St. Nicholas Gate (Porta San Nicolo)
The Venetian authorities planned and built the New Fortress on St Mark’s Hill, to the north-west of town, on the insistent requests of Corfiots for added defenses against the Ottoman Turks. Construction started in 1576.
St. Nicholas Gate, at Faliraki, is one of the four gates on the fortification walls of the town. The gate was built during the period of the Venetian rule (1576-1588) and afforded access between the town and the sea. It owes its name to the Church of St. Nicholas, which survives to this day in its reconstructed form in the small harbor. The gate is located to the floor of the town’s Military Hospital (Opsitale delle Milizie). This is a three-storey building with two wings. In the early 19th century the largest part of it was demolished for the construction of the Palace of St. Michael and St. George.
