My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is in cinemas now and if it puts you in the mood for Corfu, this is how you make the most of the island, writes Antonia Windsor.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 is in cinemas, the first of the franchise to be filmed
Film sets and shooting locations from My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 in Corfu
By Antonia Windsor
NZ Herald·
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As My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 plays in cinemas, the appeal for Corfu increases. Photo / Getty Images
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Most of the island scenes are filmed on Corfu, the northernmost of the Ionian island chain, close to the coast of Western Greece and southern Albania. Known as Greece’s emerald isle, the landscape here is much more lush than other well-known islands such as Mykonos and Kos and having been variously Venetian, French and British there is a rich history and a mix of architectural styles.
The village
In the film, Toula (Nina Vardalos) and her family return to the village where her father Gus (played in the previous films by the late Michael Constantine) grew up. It’s a village that’s lost much of its grandeur after most of its inhabitants emigrated. The scenes were partly filmed in the traditional hilltop village of Varipatades, just to the west of Corfu Town. Varipatades itself has a dwindling number of full-time residents and so became an authentic backdrop to the story. The narrow streets are lined with yellow, pink and amber-coloured houses, some with green or brown wooden shutters, most of which have seen better days (a three-storey semi-detached house in the village is currently for sale for €145k). The village is surrounded by olive groves and cedar trees and from the church of Agios Stefanos you get splendid views of the surrounding Ionian sea.
Other village scenes were shot in Danilia Village, a tourist village in the area of Kira Chrisikou, 10km from Corfu Town. This reconstruction of a 1930s Corfiot village was developed in the 1970s and is now owned by Grecotel Hotel & Resorts Group. For a small entrance fee, you can journey back in time. Wander among the colourful Venetian-style buildings, stop at the traditional cafe for a Greek coffee, visit the museum, which has rooms furnished as they would have been in the early 20th century and browse shops selling traditional Corfiot products such as olive oil and oregano.
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The town
In the film the Portokalos family visits the island’s capital which, with its narrow streets of stores selling colourful leather bags, closely resembles Corfu Town. The scenes were actually shot in the Plaka neighbourhood of Athens, which spreads out beneath the Acropolis and contains narrow cobbled streets of neoclassical buildings housing traditional restaurants and artisan stores.
Corfu Town has a similar vibe, particularly in the old town where pavement cafes spread out in the shade of grand Byzantine and Venetian-style buildings and shops spill their wares on to the street, including rails of colourful linen clothes, piles of brightly woven towels and everywhere the bright blue evil eye glints on keyrings, bracelets and bags.
The waterfront
Corfu has a beach for every mood, from windswept sand with waves for kitesurfing to pebbly coves to snorkel in. In My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 all the waterfront scenes were shot in Benitses, a pretty coastal village south of Corfu Town and north of Messonghi. Benitses was a rowdy resort town in the 1980s but has smartened up in recent years and is now the place to try Corfiot fish specialities bianco (cooked in a garlic lemon sauce with potatoes) and bourdeto (in a spicy tomato sauce). Try the restaurant Klimataria, known locally as “Bellos” after the family that runs it.
The olive tree
During the film, Toula’s brother Nick (Louis Mandylor) is intent on finding the oldest olive tree in his dad’s village. He eventually locates a wonderfully gnarled and knotted tree that looks like something straight out of Lord of the Rings. The tree can be found in the groves belonging to the Dafnis Family, who make Governor olive oil in Corfu. You can book a tour and tasting and visit the magnificent tree called Miterra — Gus’ tree in the film — which the family believes to be about 2000 years old.
The food
Greek food features heavily in the food, from the classic grilled meat souvlaki (which Aunt Voula hands out on the plane) to moussaka, tyropita (cheese pie) and gemista (stuffed vegetables with rice and herbs). To sample some of these traditional dishes head to Alonaki Bay Taverna in Halikouna where you can dine overlooking the sea.
Fancy getting hitched? Top tips for getting married in Corfu
It can be nerve-racking planning a wedding abroad, but Anglo-Greek Chryssa Poupard and her team of wedding planners can organise the perfect wedding in the fairytale surroundings of her recently restored Venetian villa, the Courti Estate.
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The pretty pink 9-bedroom villa is set among 10 acres of olive groves and whether you want an intimate wedding of 20 guests with everyone staying onsite, or a larger wedding of up to 500 guests, it is possible to plan it here. Additional accommodation includes the five-star Olivar Suites just a few minute’s walk away.
As ceremonies held on the grounds of the estate - and many others if you wed elsewhere - can only be symbolic, a legal ceremony can be arranged in the Town Hall in Corfu Town for the morning of the wedding.
Wherever you wed, make sure you have provided the correct paperwork. You must also arrange for an advert of intention to marry, which will appear in the local paper, as is customary in Greece (to allow for any objections).
For more things to do in Corfu, see visitgreece.gr
