An all green rock in the middle of the sea, is the trademark of Corfu. The famous Pontikonisi at the entrance of the lagoon of Chalkiopoulos is a sightseeing that can be admired but can not be touched.

In order for its natural virgin environment not to be destroyed as it is considered a natural museum it is not allowed to the visitors to stay there and walk around. If you insist in visiting it, you must be aware of the fact that your stay there will not last more than few minutes and under the strict vigilance of the security. Unless you are lucky and have visited Corfu on August 6th day of the celebration of its monastery called “The Transfiguration of Jesus” and you visit it on pilgrimage. This is the only day of the year that you are allowed to access inside it. The monastery of byzantine architecture is the only building on the island.

You can go to Pontikonisi only by summer by boat which you will take from the cosmopolitan Kanoni. Anyway the view from Kanoni to the green island is magnificent as it happens too from the island of Vlacherna with its monastery and from Perama. During the last years a lot of infrastructure projects have taken place such as the jetty for the boats to be tied securely.
Pontikonisi which is the sightseeing with the most photo shots in Corfu owes its name to its dimensions.

However its miniature size has reserved for it a special place in the legend. In Homer’s Odyssey, we learn that Corfu, the island of Feakos was the last station of the resourceful Odysseus before his arrival in Ithaca after his adventurous journey. According to the legend, Pontikonisi was the boat of Odysseus which was turned to this green rock that everybody know, by the God Poseidon during a storm.