Courageous Corfu

St. Spyridon's is the most famous church on Corfu, named for their patron saint. This revered patron saint was honored for his many miracles including relief from famine, deliverance from the plague that haunted many parts of Europe, and the freedom from Turkish rule. The Agios Spyridon's red-domed belfry was completed in 1589 and stands in stark contrast to the surrounding buildings.

The palace of St. Michael and St. George overlooks the town square or Esplanade in Corfu Town, also known as Kerkyra. Today the Palace houses the museum of Asiatic Art, the museum of Christian Art, the Archives of the Ionian Senate and the Corfu Public Library. A bronze statue stands in front of the main entrance. Is it St. Michael? St. George? No, it's Sir Frederic Adams, known for constructing the city's water supply.

The primary woman of this story is Empress Elizabeth, however, the many nameless women featured in sculptures at her palace in Corfu deserve recognition as well, if only in photos. The story of Elizabeth bears repeating in order to make the visit to Achillean Palace meaningful.

Empress Elizabeth's story is an intriguing one of a woman who was an "empress against her will", who was at once fairy-tale princess and liberated woman, a dieting fanatic and expert equestrian, a poet and consummate traveller. She was affectionately known to millions as "Sisi", was as intelligent as she was extravagant, and was decades ahead of her time. She managed to establish a special relationship with all classes of her subjects. Little wonder then that following her tragic death, Princess Diana was often likened in obituaries to Sisi: Both were women of extraordinary beauty and represented their countries with dignity and elegance. Both succeeded in winning a special place in people's hearts even amidst the ceremony and protocol of ancient dynasties. Both were dedicated to social causes. And both died tragically before their time. With her charm and natural grace, Elizabeth soon became a fairy-tale princess in the eyes of the public. In her private life, however, insoluble problems began to make their appearance. From the first day she arrived in Vienna the young empress felt constrained and unhappy by the strict life at court, personified by her mother-in-law, Sophie. During the early years of her marriage, Elizabeth took refuge in isolation and illness. Sisi could not adapt to the strict court etiquette, and soon immersed herself in rigorous exercise and horse riding. Later she spent a lot of time in Corfu, trying to escape. The official public explanation was "severe illness".

The Empress had exchanged a carefree country life with the strict etiquette of the Imperial Court and could hardly adapt to it.

Elizabeth was also a highly educated woman, who not only learned Hungarian and modern Greek perfectly, but who even in later years immersed herself in the world of the ancient Greeks. It was for this reason that she built a palace on the Greek island of Corfu and named it "Achillion" after her favourite hero of the ancient world, Achilles.

Sisi spent the last years of her life far from the pomp and ceremony of the Viennese court travelling widely, especially in Greece. Her decades-long hunger diets coupled with a need for movement and exercise which compelled her to undertake lengthy and strenuous hikes, caused malnutrition and depressions and led finally to suicidal fantasies. The sixty-year old empress was stabbed with a file by a twenty-four year old anarchist, Luigi Lucheni, shortly after noon on September 10, 1898 on the promenade of Lake Geneva as she boarded a steamship for Montreux. After the incident the Empress still walked for a few minutes. Because she was so strictly corseted, she was unaware how seriously she had been wounded. Her last words were "What happened to me?"

, a non-copyrighted source.

Wow! I can't believe no one has yet written about the Achilean Palace on the Greek Island of Corfu. It was one of our favorite things to see on Corfu. It is quite a ways away from Corfu Town, but worth the visit. There was a bus strike when we were there, so we had to rely on a taxi both ways. The Palace itself is nice--rather simple as palaces go. The gardens are the highlight, with the central figure being a larger than life sculpture of Achilles. Achilles was the mightiest, seemingly indestructible, hero. The sculpture erected in his honor overlooks Corfu, toward Albania. Poor Achilles, his mother dipped him in water meant to protect him, but held him by the heel, leaving it vulnerable. His heel became his "achilles heel" when Paris struck him in the heel
with an arrow. A second sculpture in the gardens depicts that event. The message is that even the mightiest among us have a weakness, an "achilles heel", if you will. The courtyard above the gardens have several lovely sculptures worth viewing, as well.

Le Chocolat can be found on the very end of the Liston, toward the Palace of St. Michael & St. George. This was a great place to enjoy a cool chocolate drink before continuing on to explore Corfu Town.