Achillion Palace
The palace of the Austrian empress Elizabeth, called Sissi, was built by an Italian architekt Rafael Kavit as a neo-classical edifice between 1890 and 1891. It has a raised ground floor and two storeys, it is decorated by a number of statues and situated on a beautiful place of the former Villa Vraila. The empress was visiting the palace to have a rest, she became really fond of the local climate admiring the Greek nature. She became really fond of Greek history, namely the Greek hero of Achilles, which is why the palace has got his name. In the garden you will find his statues: the Mourning Achilles and the lofty statue of Achilles which is 11.5 m high.
On your visit of the palace, visit also the gardens with their many statues, secluded places a terraces continuing up to the main path and the sea, on which the empress Sissi used to walk as well, are especially beautiful in the spring. From the palace, visitors can enter only the ground floor with the prayer room, a Renaissance dining room, a smoking room, and a great entrance hall decorative with beautiful paintings. On the middle floor, there were Elizabeth´s rooms, and walking up a wide staircase, you would get to the upper floor with the rooms of Franz Joseph and the grand duchess Marie Valerie.
In the summer of 1898, the empress Elizabeth was assassinated in Geneva by an Italian anarchist, and in 1905, the palace was purchased by the German emperor William II who came there to take a rest like Sissi. During the World War I, the palace was confiscated by the Greek government and transformed into a French military hospital. After the war, it became a state property being used for multiple purposes (there was a casino on the upper floor).
When leaving the palace, don´t forget to stop at the statue of a little boy and touch his thumb (which already became goldish for being stroked so many times) to return happily to the palace and Corfu - after all, it is really worth it, isn´t it?
Review
Area: |
Corfu |
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Type: |
Památka |