Behind the fortified walls of Courti, in Messonghi on the south east coast of Corfu, the main house, the olive press, the stables, the church and the warehouses share one enclosure. A legal document of 1723, the earliest written record of the estate, already shows the same layout. Three centuries later the enclosure is a private wedding estate, and the team will help plan for a guest list of 20 or of 500.
An estate that kept its layout
Courti began as a working farm, and it is typical of Venetian country architecture. For generations it belonged to the Trivoli-Pieri family, members of the local nobility; the family history on the estate’s website begins with an arrival from the Peloponnese in 1450 and a seat on the Corfu council in 1490. The buildings were put up at different times, so the estate cannot give a single date, and it notes evidence that the central buildings are older than the 1723 document. The main house was rather large for the standards of its time.
Michiel Steffano inherited the estate in 1758, when it already had its main house, stables, warehouses, olive press and the church of Eisodion Yperagias Theotokou. The inscription over the main entrance archway records the restoration he carried out in 1770. The property was sold in 1878 to the merchant Christodoulos Kritikos, and in 2010 it changed hands again, when major renovation began on what the estate calls a ruined shell. The restoration followed the guidelines of the Greek Archaeology Supervisory Authority.
The olive press and the church were already part of the estate in 1758, and the fortified walls enclose the same buildings today, restored since 2010.
The chapel, the lawn and the olive press
The estate has a private chapel, and ceremonies are set in front of it. A church named Eisodion Yperagias Theotokou appears among the buildings of 1758, and it is worth asking whether it is the same building. Ask in writing, too, whether civil or legal ceremonies can be held here.
The photograph above shows rows of chairs set on a lawn. Ask how many guests the chapel and the lawn take for a ceremony, and how many can be seated for dinner in each space.
Long wedding dinners are set in the olive press, a function room with panoramic views over the estate. A second photograph shows long tables laid in a room with glass walls onto the olive trees.
The estate offers an indoor option for up to 120 guests, described as an alternative to hiring a marquee. A party of 150 or 300 should ask how the day moves indoors if the weather turns.
Guests are shown gathering outdoors in front of the pink buildings, as above. The booking is for the house and its grounds across the nights chosen, and the estate’s cost calculator is built around four inputs: guest numbers, rooms, nights and dates.
What is grown, pressed and cooked on the estate
Courti is an olive estate: the gated grounds cover ten acres of ancient olive groves, and the kitchen draws on them. Fresh produce comes daily from its own organic farm, with cold pressed organic olive oil from its trees and fruit from its orchards, and everything else is bought from suppliers within 5 km. The stay includes an in house cook.
That is how the estate feeds guests who stay, not a wedding catering offer. Ask who caters weddings, what the menus are and whether a tasting is part of the process.
Nine bedrooms, and the neighbours for everyone else
The estate is hired as a whole, so the wedding party has the house to itself. It has nine bedrooms. The floorplan names the Seaview Suite, the Garden Suite, the Ionian Suite and the Chapel Suite, with the Pergola Room and the Orchard Room alongside, a set of Courti Club rooms on the first floor and a Master Apartment on the second. Around the house there is a 100 square metre infinity pool among the olive trees, a library, a TV room and table tennis tables. Air conditioning runs throughout and wifi reaches the grounds. A concierge and daily maid service are part of the stay.
Nine bedrooms will not sleep a large guest list, so ask how many each one sleeps. For bigger weddings there are several places to stay within walking distance. Transfers from Corfu airport can be arranged through its taxi partners, and private jet and boat hire on request.
Messonghi and the south east coast
Messonghi sits on the south east coast of Corfu. From its hilltop position the estate looks to the Ionian Sea on one side and inland to the mountains and the Corfiot countryside on the other. The sea is a short walk from the gates, and the golden beaches of the south west are about 15 minutes away. The estate’s own suggestion for guests is Tayo Beach Bar on Halikounas Beach, in a nature reserve that runs alongside Korission Lake, 6 km from the estate. Kite surfing, wind surfing, paddle boarding, horse riding, snorkelling and diving are all listed, as are beach picnics in coves reachable only by sea, and the concierge arranges them.
The estate’s own YouTube channel carries 14 wedding films from 2021 to 2024, among them Micaela & Austin, May 2024. Its events gallery lists eight weddings by the couples’ names: Alex and Dimitra, Beata and Phil, Chris and Katie, Christelle and Jean, Dino and Louise, Lana and Ed, Lara and Nick, and Patricia and Ramin.
Planning your wedding
Couples can plan directly with the estate team, use its online planning platform, PlanA, or bring their own planner, in which case the estate asks to be told so that the enquiry runs smoothly. Many couples visit first, and the estate has hosted events of every size, from small intimate weddings to private rock concerts. No wedding price is published. The estate’s online cost calculator builds an indicative estimate from guest numbers, rooms, nights and dates, and its figures exclude VAT, so a written quote for your date is still needed.
Corfu International Airport is 21 km away, about 30 minutes by road, and Corfu Town is 22 km. Flights run direct from April to November and via Athens in winter. Gouvia Marina is 26 km away, the port of Corfu and the port of Lefkimmi are both 23 km, and the nearest golf course is 27 km. The estate’s website gives two figures for the distance to the nearest beach, so we state only that it is a short walk.
Three things are worth putting to the estate in writing: capacity for the ceremony, the dinner and a standing reception; who caters; and whether music and finish times are limited.
Our view
Courti suits a couple who want a private, walled estate in Greece for the whole wedding, with the chapel, the olive press, the grounds and nine bedrooms in one enclosure and a recorded history behind it. Its distinction is the old farm buildings and the olive land around them. The main planning consideration is scale: the estate speaks of guest lists up to 500, but its only published guest figure for a space is 120 indoors, and most guests at a large wedding would sleep elsewhere.
Check your date with the estate through the Courti Estate listing, where the full record, the enquiry form and the films are gathered.
