On the most central and commercial road of Corfu town stands a tall old campanile without a church attached to it. The campanile was part of the ANNUNZIATA catholic church (‘Lontsiada’ in the local dialect), originally a monastery, built in 1394 by the Neapolean house of Capece, which was one of the oldest in Italy. The monastic complex was dedicated to the Annunciation of Virgin Mary and to Santa Lucia (‘Agia Loukia’ in Greek) and was run by the order of Saint Augustine. The inauguration of the monastery took place on the 7th of January of 1394. The campanile, which it is left intact, bears the venetian emblem of Corfu on it and there were some Corfiots sculptured scenes as well. Inside the church, the remains of the latin soldiers who were killed in the ‘Battle of Lepanto’ (‘Battle of Nafpaktos’) in 1571 were interred. In 1891, the 500 years of the monument were celebrated. Unfortunately, Annunziata church was bombed by the Germans in 1943. The monument stayed there ruined until 1953 when, without a reason the local authorities demolished it, leaving only the campanile intact.
