Achilleion, Neoclassical palace and museum in Gastouri, Greece
Achilleion is a palace in Gastouri on Corfu in Greece. The rooms open onto colonnaded walkways, while several levels of terraces lead down the hillside toward the sea.
Empress Elisabeth of Austria commissioned the construction in 1890 as a summer retreat after her son died. German Emperor Wilhelm II purchased the estate in 1907 and used it until the First World War.
The estate takes its name from the Greek hero whose story shapes the entire design. Frescoes, sculptures, and wall paintings tell scenes from the Iliad and show the warrior at different moments of his life.
The entrance sits along the road between Corfu Town and the southern part of the island, from where paths lead through the gardens. The upper terraces offer views over the coastline and the Ionian Sea.
Kaiser Wilhelm II removed the statue of the German poet Heinrich Heine that Empress Elisabeth had installed at the Achilleion. His actions there became the subject of the 1992 film-poem The Gaze of the Gorgon by British poet Tony Harrison.
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