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HousetrGarden 
Vol.III MAY, 1903 No. 5 
THE TRIUMPH OF ACHILLES 
The Wall Paining at the Head of the Grand Staircase in the Achilleion 
THE ACHILLEION 
THE VILLA AND GARDENS OF THE LATE EMPRESS ELIZABETH OF AUSTRIA 
ON THE ISLAND OF CORFU 
By FRANK W. JACKSON 
T HE pride of the “ Hepta Nessie,” the 
seven isles of the iEgean which once 
were formed into a separate confederacy under 
the Venetians and later under the regime of 
Great Britain, is Corfu, the Corcyra or Ker- 
keera of the ancient Greeks. The gem of 
the island is the palace of the late Elizabeth, 
Empress of Austria, which stands almost at 
the summit of Mount Kyriake near the little 
village of Gastouri, overlooking the harbor 
and city of Corfu and commanding a sur¬ 
passingly rare and beautiful view of Epirus 
and Albania, and of the narrow stretch of sea 
which alone separates the island from the 
mainland. On this rock-bound coast, 174 
meters above the fEgean, this monument to 
the wealth and esthetic taste of the unfor¬ 
tunate Empress has been reared regardless 
of temporal and material considerations, but 
regardful of symmetry and system, of art and 
artistic adornment, to such an extent that it 
may well be classed among the most attractive 
domiciles of Europe. Yet it is neither a poem 
nor a dream, as the ultra-esthetic are some¬ 
times inclined to name it. Neither is it an 
oasis in the heart of a desert; for the fertile 
though poverty-touched island is anything but 
deserted. It is not even the “ Fairy Palace” 
of Viennese imagination, but a beautiful 
home, a luxurious retreat into which ambi¬ 
tion and a true sense of the beautiful, abetted 
by wealth, have brought together and dis¬ 
played the works of art and architecture not 
merely to delight the senses, but above all 
to elevate and inspire. 
The Achilleion is above all things Greek, 
as its name implies, yet it is also cos¬ 
mopolitan, for it has called upon many 
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