The Holy Church of Saint Catherine is a church dedicated to Saint Catherine (Agia Ekaterini) and is located next to the Palace of Saint Michael and Saint George in Corfu Town.
When Heraklion fell at the end of the Cretan War, Venice lost the island to the Ottomans in September 1669 and with that its sovereignty in the Mediterranean. Refusing to fall under Ottoman rule, many Cretans fled to the Ionian Islands, under which the hieromonk Nikodimos Karofyllatos. When he arrived in Corfu he was granted a piece of land where he built a church at his own expense.
The construction of the Holy Church of Saint Catherine started on the 1st of August 1690 and the building was completed on 17 November 1690. The inauguration took place on 25 November of that year, the day on which Saint Catherine is celebrated.
The Holy Church of Saint Catherine can be described as a single-aisled basilica. Inside the church important icons of the Cretan iconographer Stefanos Tzagarolas and a 14th century icon of John the Forerunner from Crete are being kept.
During the first periode of the French rule in the Ionian Islands in 1797-1799 all income from churches, including of the Holy Church of Saint Catherine, were confiscated and in 1887 the church became the property of the Municipality of Corfu. Over the years the church suffered severe damage due to negligence and a lack of funds for maintenance. Finally in 2021 a much needed restoration took place.
