What happened to the Cross on the Old Fortress
CORFU. Last Easter (2017) an observant person would have noticed that there were two crosses above the Old Fortress - the one illuminated with colours of mourning for Easter Week and another one barely visible and poorly illuminated.
It was not an illusion. The scaffolding from which the metal cross had been hanging for years was rusty and ready to collapse. Consequently, in 2017 the Cross was hung lower and ‘appearances’ were saved. However, due to the condition of the scaffolding at the peak of the Old Fortress, the Civil Aviation Authority beacon has been turned off for a long time now. According to what witnesses have said, a dreadful mess of cables made the restoration of the Cross and the supply of power much more difficult than it should have been. This was last year – or to be more precise, it has actually been the case for several years.
This year nobody dared to hang anything on the scaffolding as it was guaranteed to collapse and it would be even more dangerous as there would be access to the Fortress Cross throughout the year.
The reason why nothing was done during the whole year since last Easter remains unknown. All that happened was that those involved met and in the end decided that there wasn’t enough time to do anything.
Perhaps the only comment to be made, apart from the obvious one about bureaucratic inertia, is that ceremonies and symbols are solely tools for the reproduction of cultural customs, myths and ideologies and from this perspective they should be allowed to operate. Especially when they also undeniably contribute to the economy.
