Kórfos is the sea haven of the mountainous village Sofikó. Its inhabitants were merchants of (natural) resin since many years ago and gradually, some of them founded the coastal village of Kórfos in order to trade their products more easily.
Later, its inhabitants turned to fishing and up until a few decades ago, Kórfos was a small and isolated fishing village. Today, there is a population of approximately 400 permanent residents, the village has been touristically developed with hotels, taverns and shops, and there is a large number of summerhouses owned by both Greeks and foreigners.
Opposite of the island Petronísi, on the W part of Sofikó peninsula and about 1km inland from the coast, lie the (poor) ruins of Panagía of Steíri church, the temple of a monastery dated from the 10th century AD, which is now completely ruined. The hagiography inside the church is dated from 1668, the work of the hagiographer Theódoulos Kakkavás, and is in excellent state. In this very monastery, Saint Loukás Steiriótis cloistered between the years of 910 and 940 AD (the exact time is not known as the monk moved around a lot due to the danger of the Bulgarian raids at the time, led by Symeón). Saint Loukás was a very popular and beloved monk, thanks to his philanthropy, therapeutical skill and ability to prophecise). He lived his last years in the Monastery of Ósios Loukás, one of the most important monuments of Byzantine art and architecture of today (also known locally as the Agía Sofía of Roúmeli, meaning that the monastery was the equivalent of Hagia Sophia, the cathedral and symbol of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople, built in 537 AD), in Steíri, Voiotía.
In the area between the bay of Sofikó and the cape Trelí, a large coastal Mycenean settlement has been found. The settlement extends under the sea, which probably means there was a harbour. Excavations are still on an initial stage and findings so far have been dated between the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC.
