Vido

This article is about the island in Greece. For other uses, seeVido (disambiguation).

Vido

Native name: Βίδο
Vido
Geography
Coordinates	39°38′30″N19°55′30″E
Administration
Greece

Vido(Greek:Βίδο) is anislandof theIonian Islandsgroup ofGreece. It is a small island (less than a kilometer in diameter) at the mouth of the port ofCorfu.

History

The island was known to the ancients as Ptychia (Ancient Greek:Πτυχία).At some point, during thePeloponnesian war,Atheniangenerals used Ptychia in order to keep in custody some prisoners.

The island was involved inSiege of Corfu (1798–99),where Russo-Ottoman allies captured it from French on 28 February 1799.

During theFirst World War,Corfuserved as an island hospital and quarantine for sickSerbiansoldiers following the epic retreat of the Serbian army and part of the civilian population through Montenegro and Albania in 1915 following the Austro-German-Bulgarian invasion of Serbia (seeSerbian Campaign). While the main camps of the recuperating army were on Corfu itself (a contingent was sent toBizerteas well, and many of the civilian refugees were accepted by France), the sick and near-dying, mostly soldiers, were treated on Vido to prevent epidemics. In spite of Allied material help, the conditions of both the improvised medical facilities and many of the patients on the island resulted in a high fatality rate. Due to small area of the island and its rocky soil, it soon became necessary to bury the dead in the sea (by weighting the corpses with rocks to prevent them from floating). Over 5,000 people were buried at sea near the island of Vido.

A monument of gratitude to the Greek nation was erected at Vido by Serbs in the 1930s.

Wildlife on the island includepeacocks,pheasantsandrabbits.

The waters around Vido island are sometimes referred to as theBlue Sea Tomb(Serbian:Plava Grobnica), after a poem written byMilutin Bojićafter World War I.

• Serbian mausoleum
• 
  Serbian World War I soldiers' mausoleum
• 
  Interior of mausoleum
• 
  Blue Graveyard memorial plaque

See also

• Serbian Campaign (World War I)
• https://www.angelfire.com/super2/greece/ptychia.html