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Achilleion (Corfu)

AchillesArchitecture of CorfuEmpress Elisabeth of AustriaHouses completed in 1890Museums in Corfu
Neoclassical architecture in GreecePalaces in GreeceRoyal residences in GreeceWilhelm II, German Emperor
Corfu Achilleion R05
Corfu Achilleion R05

Achilleion (Greek: Αχίλλειο, Katharevousa: Αχίλλειον) is a palace built on Corfu for Empress (German: Kaiserin) Elisabeth of Austria, also known as Sisi, after a suggestion by the Austrian consul Alexander von Warsberg. Elisabeth was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria following the Mayerling incident in 1889, and a year later she had this summer palace built as a refuge. Achilleion is located at Gastouri, a village about ten kilometres south of the city of Corfu, and provides a panoramic view of the city to the north, and the southern part of the island, framed by the Ionian Sea to the east.The architectural style was designed to suggest an ancient palace of mythical Phaeacia. The motif centers on the hero Achilles of Greek mythology, from which the name is derived. Corfu was Elisabeth's favourite vacation destination and she wanted a palace to gratify her admiration for Greece, its language and its culture.The property currently operates as a museum under the management of Hellenic Tourism Development Company, within the Greek National Tourism Organization.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Achilleion (Corfu) (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Achilleion (Corfu)
Kerkyra - Achileio, Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands

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N 39.5625 ° E 19.904166666667 °
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Αχίλλειο (Αχίλλειον)

Kerkyra - Achileio
490 84 Municipality of Central Corfu and Diapontia Islands
Peloponnese, Western Greece and the Ionian, Greece
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achillion-corfu.gr

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Corfu Achilleion R05
Corfu Achilleion R05
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Korkyra (polis)
Korkyra (polis)

Korkyra (also Corcyra; Greek: Κόρκυρα, Kórkyra) was an ancient Greek city on the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea that is adjacent to Epirus. It was a colony of Corinth that was founded in the Archaic period. Korkyra was acting as a port of call on the sailing routes, especially to reach the Italian coast or ventured farther north. According to Thucydides, the earliest recorded naval battle took place between Korkyra and Corinth, roughly 260 years before he was writing, and thus in the mid-7th century BC. He also writes that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers in 5th-century BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth.The antagonism between Korkyra and its mother city, Corinth, appears to have been an old one. Quite apart from the naval battle that Thucydides mentions, Herodotus records a myth involving the tyrant of Corinth, Periander. Periander was estranged from his younger son, Lycophron, who believed that his father had killed his mother, Milissa. After failing to reconcile with Lycophron, he sent him to Korkyra, which was within Corinth's governance. In his old age, Periander sent for his son to come and rule over Corinthn and suggested that they would trade places and he would rule Korkyra while his son came to rule Corinth. To prevent that, the Korkyraeans killed Lycophron. In punishment, Periander captured 300 young men of Korkyra with the intention of castrating them. That is more likely to be a myth explaining the animosity between Corinth and Korkyra and justifying the use of the word tyrant for Periander's rule than an actual historical event.

Temple of Artemis, Corfu
Temple of Artemis, Corfu

The Temple of Artemis is an Archaic Greek temple in Corfu, Greece, built in around 580 BC in the ancient city of Korkyra (or Corcyra), now called Corfu. It is found on the property of the Saint Theodore monastery, which is located in the suburb of Garitsa. The temple was dedicated to Artemis. It is known as the first Doric temple exclusively built with stone. It is also considered the first building to have incorporated all of the elements of the Doric architectural style. Very few Greek temple reliefs from the Archaic period have survived, and the large fragments of the group from the pediment are the earliest significant survivals. It was excavated from 1911 onwards. The temple was a peripteral–styled building with a pseudodipteral configuration. Its perimeter was rectangular, with width of 23.46 m (77.0 ft) and length 49 m (161 ft) with an eastward orientation so that light could enter the interior of the temple at sunrise. It was one of the largest temples of its time. The Temple of Artemis is approximately 700 m. to the northwest of the Temple of Hera in the Palaiopolis of Corfu.The metope of the temple was probably decorated, since remnants of reliefs featuring Achilles and Memnon were found in the ancient ruins. The temple has been described as a milestone of Ancient Greek architecture and one of 150 masterpieces of Western architecture. The architecture of the Corfu temple may have influenced the design of an archaic sanctuary found at Sant'Omobono in Rome which dates to the archaic period and incorporates similar design elements. The massive altar of the sanctuary is precisely rectangular and stood in front of the temple. It was 2.7 m. wide and 25 m. long. Only 8 m. of its northern section survive. The Saint Theodore monastery was built on top of the southern portion of the altar.

Corfu
Corfu

Corfu ( kor-FEW, -⁠FOO, US also KOR-few, -⁠foo) or Kerkyra (Greek: Κέρκυρα, romanized: Kérkyra, pronounced [ˈcercira] ) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered by three municipalities with the islands of Othonoi, Ereikoussa, and Mathraki. The principal city of the island (pop. 32,095) is also named Corfu. Corfu is home to the Ionian University. The island is bound up with the history of Greece from the beginnings of Greek mythology, and is marked by numerous battles and conquests. Ancient Korkyra took part in the Battle of Sybota which was a catalyst for the Peloponnesian War, and, according to Thucydides, the largest naval battle between Greek city states until that time. Thucydides also reports that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers of fifth century BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth. Ruins of ancient Greek temples and other archaeological sites of the ancient city of Korkyra are located in Palaiopolis. Medieval castles punctuating strategic locations across the island are a legacy of struggles in the Middle Ages against invasions by pirates and the Ottomans. Two of these castles enclose its capital, which is the only city in Greece to be surrounded in such a way. As a result, Corfu's capital has been officially declared a Kastropolis ("castle city") by the Greek government. From medieval times and into the 17th century, the island, as part of the Republic of Venice since 1204, successfully repulsed the Ottomans during several sieges, was recognised as a bulwark of the European States against the Ottoman Empire and became one of the most fortified places in Europe. The fortifications of the island were used by the Venetians to defend against Ottoman intrusion into the Adriatic. In November 1815 Corfu came under British rule following the Napoleonic Wars, and in 1864 was ceded to modern Greece by the British government along with the remaining islands of the United States of the Ionian Islands under the Treaty of London. Corfu is the origin of the Ionian Academy, the first university of the modern Greek state, and the Nobile Teatro di San Giacomo di Corfù, the first Greek theatre and opera house of modern Greece. The first governor of independent Greece after the revolution of 1821, founder of the modern Greek state, and distinguished European diplomat Ioannis Kapodistrias was born in Corfu. In 2007, the city's old town was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List, following a recommendation by ICOMOS. The 1994 European Union summit was held in Corfu. The island is a popular tourist destination.