Sinarades Village

Sinarades is a village situated 13 km from Corfu Town, above the beautiful beach of Agios Gordios, but not visible from the beach. The village was carefully built in such a place to protect it from pirate attacks.

The history of Sinarades

The village of Sinarades was built in the Middle Byzantine years, but was soon abandoned and only rebuilt when Chandakas (Heraklion, Crete) was destroyed in 1669 by refugees fleeing Crete. Even today, typical Cretan surnames on -akis can be found in Sinarades.

In earlier years, Sinarades was also known as Axinarades, as the inhabitants of the village were mainly farmers (tsapadori or axinarades in Corfu) engaged in the cultivation of olives and wine, wheat and flax.

sinarades corfu

What you will see in Sinarades

The main feature of the village of Sinarades and one of its most charming features are the arches on the houses and buildings called volta (after the homonymous Italian word). The volta are located in the entrances of the houses and also in the common courtyards of the houses, usually three or four, and they had a practical reason for their existence, as they were an “ally” of the inhabitants against robbers, as they could defend their houses more easily by locking the enemies outside.

old houses in sinarades, corfu

The architecture of the village of Sinarades is generally of great interest because, apart from the corridors, it is characterised by the marble relief doorways, the small and narrow steps leading to the verandas (called bonzoi) and the Byzantine-style tiles, which are a lighter colour than those normally used in construction.

There are 12 churches in the village, of which Agios Nikolaos and Agios Spyridon are the most important. It is a large basilica with three naves and an impressive organ that comes from Italy.

Sinarades also has a Folklore Museum, its own Philharmonic Orchestra – which has been around since 1961 – and a Cultural Centre, which organises many activities and festivals as well as art seminars.

Sinarades is a village that is particularly popular with visitors to Corfu, especially those who want to discover something other than the beaches and tourist attractions of Corfu.

It is also ideal for walking as there is a beautiful pine forest outside the village from which there is a magnificent view of Yaliskari and the beach of Black Sand. The area is also called Aerostato because it offers a magnificent panoramic view.

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