Arillas
Arillas is a seaside village in the north-western part of the island, famous for its golden beach with its shallow waters. It is located in a verdant valley, surrounded by hills with olive groves which end up to steep slopes of clay. The view towards the sea is unique. To the left there is the islet of Gravia, next to the islets Varkoules and to the right the islet Diapolo and far away Mathraki. The sunset behind those isles is one of the most beautiful you will ever see.
Arillas has developed in a significant resort with hotels, rentable rooms, restaurants, bars and shops. Nevertheless, in the region tranquility prevails. In the village even more alternative tourism activities develop such as hiking, bicycling and meditation. It is characteristic that in Arillas operate three large meditation centers with visitors coming from all over the worlds. In Arillas is also situated the factory of Corfiot beer which produces four different kinds of fresh beer and has become very popular not only to Corfiots but in foreigners as well.
In Arillas there is a very active, cultural club, which maintains a library, an exhibition of folklore and a department of traditional dances. It organizes, amongst others, the annual festival for the club «the smile of the child», «Antamoma» every first Saturday of August, a gathering of the permanent residents with the Arillians of dispersion and lastly in September, «Days of the wine» where, wine in made with the traditional way and many dance groups participate in this festival.
The name of Arillas probably is from the early Roman Christian era and comes from the tree Aria, a species of oak which thrived in the area and from which ships were constructed. Another version is that the region was named this way by a Roman general Arillas who encamped there.