Corfu’s Mount Pantokrator – Where the men make dinner and the women mix cement

Rising to a striking 906 metres, just a tad short of 3,000 feet, Mount Pantokrator is the highest point on the island of Corfu. On top of this mighty mountain lies the Monastery of Ipsilos besides a small café. On a clear day the views from Mount Pantokrator are absolutely stunning.

Of course the route up the mountain is no cake walk and hairpin bends and steep roadside drops are plentiful. In fact so perilously severe is Mount Pantokrator’s road to it peak, that the route was chosen for the car chase in the James Bond movie “For Your Eyes Only.”

Although Mount Pantokrator’s heady route to its summit is compensated with many rewards.  Beautiful scenery through woodland and old mountain villages takes you onwards and upwards, with several roadside restaurants providing walkers with some well-deserved refreshments on their way to the apex.

Although as signposts on-route are not as generously placed as the cafes and restaurants, a good map or sat-nav would be a useful addition in your rucksack.

Reaching the pinnacle of Corfu’s tallest mountain has, for decades, been a popular accomplishment for tourists visiting this glorious island. In 1977, Kirt Wilby, a schoolteacher from Cheshire, reached Mount Pantokrator’s summit on a 50cc motor scooter.

“There were two of us on the little scooter, we never really made it out of second gear but we still managed to make it all the way to the top,” Mr Wilby reminisced.

“There was some cloud about on the summit but we were still provided with tantalising views when the cloud broke, of Albania, the southern and northern parts of Corfu as well as mainland Greece. We stopped off for a meal on the way down. The men from the village stopped their card game and cooked our food, whilst the women carried on mixing cement!” the school teacher continued.

The Monastery of Ipsilos on Mount Pantokrator’s summit is well worth a visit to witness beautiful paintings the monastery houses.

Sitting on the terrace of the café, drinking a beer or coffee whilst gazing across the deep blue Ionian Sea out towards Albania and mainland Greece, has to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of reaching Corfu’s highest peak.