Greece/Corfu: Corfu – St Spyridon Church
St Spyridon is the most famous and noticeable church in Corfu, it is the tallest church in all of the Ionian islands. The single tower church built in 1580s was purposefully built to house the relics of St Spyridon and St Theotodora brought to Corfu in 1489 from Constantinople after the collapse of the Byzantine Empire. Hence the church has massive religious significance in orthodoxy and loads of pilgrims come here. On the exterior, it is an elegant Venetian style slender tower a top of a small structure, but the dark and gloomy interior is definitely like a Russian Orthodox Church – the double tomb of Saint Spyridon is in a crypt in the corner, there are 53 incense burners – gold and silver – hanging from the ceiling, dark paintings and iconostasis cover all the walls and then ceiling, and angry women yell at you for taking pictures, while crowds of over-the-top religious pilgrims trying to touch and kiss everything in sight.
