Welcome to the Island of Corfu - Moraitika

It is not known when the village of Moraitika was founded. Some authors place its beginnings between 1000-1500 A.D, when refuges from Peloponnesus then known as the Morea, from where the settlement derived its name, settled here. What is certain is that the area was inhabited at least since Roman times as can be witnessed from the excavation of a Roman villa complete with baths. The island of Corfu was from medieval times divided administratively in four bailiwicks. Moraitika belonged to the bailiwick of ‘Mesi’ (i.e. in the middle) of the island. In a census of 1766, during the Venetian domination the population is given as 61 souls. The population remained fairly constant during the next century, 69 habitants in 1803 and 73 in 1879. The area was always a target for pirates and undoubtedly had to suffer the occasional raid as can be deduced by the thickness of the walls and the presence of loop-holes in some of the old buildings. The villagers were involved mainly in the production of olive oil and wine, as most of the plural inhabitants of Corfu, but it is interesting to note that during the second half of the the 19th century Moraitika was noted for the excellence of its orange groves.

Except the orange another citrus fruit which was produced in Moraitika and generally in Corfu was the ethrog citron, used for Jewish religious ceremonies and which was of such good quality that it was exported to Trieste to be sent to all Jewish communities all over the world. During the First World War French soldiers were stationed here followed after 20 odd years by Italian and then German occupation troops. Although the population increased and the standard of living, which was always very low, was much improved by the second world war, it is only with the advent of post war tourism on Corfu that Moraitika, one of the first areas on the island to profit by it, experienced an extraordinary bloom.

Source: Corfu Reading Society