Ionian Academy, Grimani Barracks

The Ionian Academy building is located in the southern part of Spianada Square. It was built during Venetian rule in the early 17st century and intended to house the Quartiere Grimani barracks (named after the Provveditore Generale). It is an impressive L-shaped building which undergone consecutive phases of construction. From 1824 to 1864 and once the Union of the Heptanese with Greece took place, the building housed the Ionian Academy, the first higher education institution in the modern Greek history. The Ionian Academy was founded in 1824 by Count Frederick North Guilford (1766-1827). There were four schools that operated in the Academy, and the university library. The library soon received donations by the Oxford and Cambridge university and by prominent personalities and members of the nobility all over Europe which boosted its enrichment. Following the Union of the Heptanese with Greece, the Municipality Library was housed in the building and was burned to the ground in 1943 during the World War II. Today, after its being restored, the Ionian Academy houses the office of the rector and the Ionian University Senate, while the back part of the building houses the 2nd Secondary School. The Ionian Academy has been declared a listed building under Ministerial Decision No. 28787/1316/5-5-1955 – Government Gazette 102/Β/11-6-1955. References / Reference List - Αγοροπούλου - Μπιρμπίλη Α., Η αρχιτεκτονική της πόλεως της Κέρκυρας κατά την περίοδο της Ενετοκρατίας, Αθήνα, 1976. - Σταμάτη Β., «Η Βιβλιοθήκη Guilford στην Κέρκυρα (1824-1830)», Ο Ερανιστής 20, 1995.