Mon Repos, History museum in Corfu, Greece
Mon Repos is a neoclassical villa south of Corfu City, now housing the Museum of Palaiopolis. Its pale cream walls carry a red band below the roofline; the left facade projects in a curve with a column-supported balcony, and dark green shutters flank the upper windows. A balustraded terrace with white columns stands above steps on the right.
British High Commissioner Frederick Adam had the residence built in 1828 as a summer house for his Corfiot wife Nina Palatianou. The estate was later used by the Greek royal family and became the birthplace of Prince Philip in 1921, before eventually being opened to the public.
The villa's name is French for "My Rest", given by King George I after 1864. In the park stand the ruins of the Hera temple, once 20 by 40 metres, and the Kardaki temple, found in 1822 when the spring that fed it dried up. The second building, the guesthouse, is called "Tito" after the Yugoslav leader.
The museum and garden open daily, with the main rooms accessible via level paths. The wooded parts of the park lead gently downhill to the coast and offer shaded routes for walking in warm weather.
In 1822 the spring at Kardaki suddenly dried up; while searching for the cause, workers uncovered the Kardaki Temple, whose 20 m × 40 m neighbour, the Temple of Hera, now survives only in fragments among the trees. The spring had supplied water since antiquity.
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