At the crossroads of civilisations, like a bridge between East and West and with a culture influenced by neighbouring Italy but with traditions and a soul that is purely Greek, Corfu has its own charming personality. The island of the Phaeacians and Nausicaa, where, according to Homer, an exhausted Homer stopped to rest – a respite on his journey to Ithaca in the “Odyssey” – has much to offer the visitor. A visitor to Corfu was Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 1861, and the attraction she felt for the island was so great that it led her to create the Achilleion. A visit to the palace of the empress, dedicated by Elisabeth herself to Achilles, the hero she so admired, is considered a must.
ACHILLEION – Le palais d’Élisabeth