The album RICORDO di CORFU, 1892. Twenty digital copies from the album Ricordo di Corfu, photographed and documented by the art historian, Dr Megakles Rogakos.

Ricordo di Corfu

COMMENTARY: An album under the name in Italian "Ricordo di Corfú" (Souvenir of Corfu) is kept at the Corfu Reading Society. This is an important large leather-bound album measuring 40 by 50 centimeters, containing twenty albumen prints of landscape format and subject recording a tour at various attractions in Corfu before 1892, the year it was produced. The front cover of the album bears in Greek with the initials “T.L.”, which refers to the owner. The creator is attested to be Bartolomeo Borri (Dalmatia, Cres Isle, 1842- Trieste, 1924), the fine Italian photographer who had made Corfu his home in the period 1869-1912, and was awarded with the Honorary Medallion of the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889. The prints are not captioned and the identity of their locations was aided by Theodoros Metallinos, connoisseur of the history and landscape of Corfu. The composition of the subjects is rather casula, and their printing is partially overexposed. Nevertheless, it is remarkable to have this record of the Achilleion Palace, one of Europe's most famous royal villas, built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria during the years 1888-1891. There are four prints relating to the Achilleion in the last phase of its construction, around 1890. The other photographs date earlier (1880-1890) and are of archaeological and naturist interest, about which the island of Corfu lends itself superbly.

Ricordo di Corfu #01: View of the Esplanade from the Old Fortress, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Esplanade from the Citadella, the highest point of the Old Fortress, Corfu. The Maitland Monument (1816-1824) presides on the Upper Esplanade. Fronting the Esplanade is a series of great building, including the then Public Library, formerly the Grimani Barracks (Pasqualigo???) up until the 18th century and the Ionian Academy in 1840-1864 (1 Kapodistriou Street) and the Houses of Flamburiari (4 Kapodistriou Street), Petretis (9 Kapodistriou Street) and Angelos Giallinas (12 Kapodistriou Street). The marble Statue of Capodistria (1887) by Leonidas Drossis at the Raimondo Bastion is discernible. The Douglas Obelisk (1843) is also made out at its original location near the Aktaion Café. Finally, the British-built panopticon Penitentiary (1836) appears in the distance on the left.

Ricordo di Corfu #02: View of the Palace of St Michael & St George, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the northeastern part of the Old Town from the Citadella, the highest point of the Old Fortress, Corfu. In the centre appears the Palace of St Michael & St George, built by General Sir George Whitmore in 1819-1824, at the Lower Esplanade. At the fortification that supports the Esplanade, rises the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary Mandrakina. At the left end of the photograph, it is possible to see the end of the building block of Liston (1807-1814) and the Kofineta Square. Further north it is possible to discern the Capodistria Mansion, built on designs by Ioannis Chronis in 1832 (122 Kapodistriou Street) and the Palatianos Mansion, built on designs by Ph. Rivellis in 1862 (124 Kapodistriou Street).

Ricordo di Corfu #03: View of the Old Port and Vido from the New Fortress, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Port and Vido from the highest point of the New Fortress, Corfu. The photograph shows warehouses in the heart of the port and high-rising houses on the right side. In the distance appears Vido, an islet at the mouth of the port of Corfu. The seaport is full of anchored steamships and sailboats of all sizes.

Ricordo di Corfu #04: View of Potamos, Corfu, overlooking Vido

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of Potamos in Corfu overlooking Vido. Potamos is an area west of the old town. The name of the area is due to the river (potamos) that originates from the hills of Pelekas and traverses this area. The photograph is framed by olive trees of the Damaskinos estate. At the opening of their branches, the impressively high bell tower of the Orthodox Church of St Barbarus stands out, reminiscent of the bell tower of St Spyridon. In the background, the island of Vido is dimly visible.

Ricordo di Corfu #05: View of Pontikonisi & Vlacherna from Kanoni, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Pontikonisi and Vlacherna islets off the Kanoni peninsula, south of Corfu Old Town. Pontikonisi is Greek for Mouse Island, and its strange shape, according to some people, may have given it its name. Its prominent feature is a Byzantine chapel of Pantokrator, dating from around the 11th century. According to Greek tradition this islet was actually the boat of Odysseus that was transformed into a rock by God Poseidon. Pontikonisi might have served as an inspiration for Arnold Böcklin's painting Isle of the Dead (1880). Vlacherna is a small monastery built in the 17th century on the other islet closer to Corfu and connected to it by a footbridge. In 1799 it officially belonged to the Chalikiopoulos-Mantzaros family. Up until 1980 if functioned as a nunnery. The name “Vlacherna” derived from the great Church of the Virgin Mary of Blachernae (50th century) in Constantinople.

Ricordo di Corfu #06: View of Aneomomylos from the Garitsa Waterfront, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of Aneomomylos from the Garitsa Waterfront, Corfu. Garitsa is a suburb of the city of Corfu where in the past there were several handicrafts. During the Britiish Protection, the coastal avenue was opened parallel to the waterfront. This avenue, which faces the 1065-metre-long grove from the Douglas Obelisk to the end of the Windmill, offers the people a wonderful and scenic walk.

Ricordo di Corfu #07: View of the Douglas Obelisk at the Upper Esplanade, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Douglas Obelisk erected since 1843 at the Upper Esplanade, Corfu Old Town. This Obelisk commemorates the works of Sir Howard Douglas, sixth Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands (29/4/1835-8/6/1841). The Douglas Obelisk was originally located opposite the Ionian Academy. Due to a landslide it was moved in 1907 at the junction of Alexandras and Demokratias avenues in the Garitsa area of Corfu. It is made of marble, about seven meters high. On the four sides of its base there are three reliefs and a votive plaque cast in bronze by the Corfiot sculptor Giovanni Calosguro (1794-1878). The first relief depicts a laurel wreath, the second the coat of arms of Commissioner Douglas and the third Corfu personified as a female goddess, sitting on a rock, holding a Cornucopia in her left hand and extending an olive branch with her right hand over the prow of a trireme in the background. The fourth relief presents an inscription by the professor of the Ionian Academy Christoforos Filitas (1787-1867), informing about some of the projects completed by Commissioner Douglas, such as the improvement of the Aqueduct, the construction of the Penitentiary, the establishment of the Ionian Bank and the Ionian High School, the construction of cemeteries, etc.

Ricordo di Corfu #08: View of Benitses Beach, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a beach view of Benitses, an old fishing village located 12kms south of the main town, on the southeastern coast of Corfu, within walking distance of Achilleion Palace. The village is green and its name comes from the fact that the mountain springs of Agioi Deka fed a river that literally "beni" (enters) the old village and ran through its current road. The beach is made of pebbles and sand with crystal clear waters. Typical is the large rock with a thin base called "Laopetra", part of a complex of smaller rocks in the sea at the northern entrance of the village.

Ricordo di Corfu #09: View of Alipa Harbour, Palaiokastritsa, from above Agia Triada Beach

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows, from above Agia Triada Beach, a view of Alipa Harbour, Palaiokastritsa. Palaiokastritsa, a Greek name meaning Old Castle, referring to the nearby Angelokastro, is a settlement in northwestern Corfu that developed near the Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Palaiokastritsa. With its rocky coast covered by pine trees, it is an area of unrivaled natural beauty. In Alypa, Paleokastritsa’s harbour, there is a natural cove that is always used as a fishing shelter where boats and small ships moore.

Ricordo di Corfu #10: View of the Old Fortress from Faliraki Beach, Corfu Town

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Fortress from Faliraki Beach facing Mandraki Harbour, Corfu. Above Mandraki run two series of buildings – on the left the Pasqualigo Barracks (1718-1721); and the British Officers Barracks (1850). The Pasqualigo Barracks was built by the High Commissioner of the Sea Giorgio Pasqualigo during the period 1718-1721. It was destroyed by bombs during the Second World War and was demolished after the war. Very few traces of this building are still visible today. It was a building with three floors facing the north and two in the rear side, as it followed the natural inclination of the ground; the rear side contained a two-storey colonnade. It was used for the Dalmation soldiers of the Venetian garrison and could accommodate 1200 men. The plans of the building were laid out in 1850 by the British military engineer Edmund Ogle. It is a long construction with a simple façade made of white stone. Like the other two works of the British Protectorate – the British Hospital and the Infantry Barracks – it is covered by heavy arches for protection against cannon fire. The building now houses the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian Academy. On the photograph’s right side, appears the fortification walls for the rear of the Palace of St Michael & St George (1814-1824).

Ricordo di Corfu #11: View of the Old Fort from the Esplanade, Corfu Town

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the western side of the Old Fortress from the Esplanade, Corfu. The building complex that appears above the walls, included the palace of the High Commissioner of the Sea, which was bombed in the 2nd World War II and subsequently demolished.

Ricordo di Corfu #12: View of the Old Town & Anemomylos from Mon Repos, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Town and the Anemomylos District from Mon Repos, Corfu. The land in the foreground includes centrally the Byzantine Church of Saints Jason & Sosipatros (11th century), and on the far right the Windmill (16th century) that gave the name to the entire district. In the background appears the Garitsa Bay and the Old Fortress.

Ricordo di Corfu #13: View of the Esplanade and the Liston Arcade, Corfu Town

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Esplanade that includes the Liston, Corfu Old Town. Kapodistriou Street flanking the western side of the Upper Esplanade here leads the gaze to the Liston. Liston is the name of two consecutive buildings with arcades and a pedestrian street that lines the northern half of the Esplanade. It was constructed in 1807-1814, during the French rule in the Ionian Islands, by French imperial commissioner Mathieu de Lesseps (1771-1832) on a design by the Corfiot engineer Ioannis Parmesan (1748-1826). Its name comes from the word ‘lista’ in the Venetian dialect, meaning a straight line. Actually, several cities in the Veneto have a liston – Venice, Verona, Padua, Belluno, Rovigo and Trieste. In Corfu the locals still use the word to indicate the main promenade of the Old Town. The distant end of the Lower Esplande terminates at the Palace of St Michael and St George, constructed in 1814-1824 by the English military engineer Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862).

Ricordo di Corfu #14: View of the Entrance of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the entrance of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu. The Achilleion was built from 1888 to 1891 in Gastouri for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), also known as Sisi, after a suggestion by the Austrian consul Alexander von Warsberg. Elisabeth was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria following the Mayerling incident in 1889, and a year later she had this summer palace built as a refuge. Achilleion is located about ten kilometres south of the Old Town and provides a panoramic view to the north, and across the whole southern part of the island to the Ionian Sea. The architectural style is of Pompeian order and in a sense suggests a palace of the mythical Phaeacia. The motif centred on the hero Achilles of Greek mythology, from which the name is derived. Corfu was Elisabeth's favourite vacation destination and she wanted a palace to gratify her admiration for Greece, its language and its culture. The palace was designed by Italian architect Raffaele Caritto (†1911) and built on an area of 200,000 m².

Ricordo di Corfu #15: View of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Achilleion Palace from the west, nearby the Gastouri Village Square. Considering that its building works were completed in 1891, the present photograph of 1892 captures the palace when it was brand new. In the foreground appear three local figures and in the centre stands out a man in traditional costume.

Ricordo di Corfu #16: Peristyle of the Muses in the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Peristyle of the Achilleion Palace. Since all the artwork was inspired by ancient Greek mythology, the Peristyle is dominated by the nine marble statues of the Muses, which are accompanied by further statues of Apollo, Hermes and the Three Graces.

Ricordo di Corfu #17: The Dying Achilles in the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Dying Achilles statue in the Achilleion Palace in Corfu, Greece. In Greek mythology, Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War, and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer’s Iliad. He died from a heel wound as the result of a poisoned arrow fired by Paris. According to the myth, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles in the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where the waters touched him – that is, everywhere but the areas covered by her thumb and forefinger – implying that only a heel wound could have been his downfall. Ernst Herter (Germany, Berlin, 1846-1917) was a famous German sculptor who worked in Berlin. He specialised in creating statues of mythological figures. Among his most famous works is the Sterbender Achill (Dying Achilles), created in Berlin in 1884. The statue was acquired by the Empress of Austria and became the emblematic exhibit at her palace in Corfu.

Ricordo di Corfu #18: View of the Menecrate's Monument in Garitsa, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Menecrate's Monument in the Garitsa area on the borders of the cemetery of ancient Corfu, facing the gate of Alkinoos Port. It is a circular tomb, constructed in the 6th century BC with an impressive archaic inscription, which is considered to be one of the most ancient inscriptions in Greece. It's a burial monument, a cenotaph in honour of Menecrates, ambassador of Corfu to Oiantheia, a town near today's town of Galaxidi. According to the inscription, the people of the town, in recognition of his offer, created the monument. The inscription, written in Corinthian alphabet, dates approximately to 600 BC, while the architecture of the cenotaph is chronologically set at 570/540 BC and there is only one similar monument at Lindos, Rhodes.

Ricordo di Corfu #19: The Maitland Peristyle in the Esplanade, Old Corfu Town

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Maitland Peristyle, in the southern tip of the Upper Esplanade in Corfu Old Town. It is a simple, circular, ionic monument that was erected to honour Sir Thomas Maitland (Scotland, 1760- Malta, 1824) the first Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands from 1815 until 1823. This monument was the work of English military engineer Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862), who also designed the Palace of St Michael & St George. It has 20 Ionic columns set on a circular base built with Maltese limestone.

Ricordo di Corfu #20: View of the Pierris Mansion on Ypsos Bay, Corfu

COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Pierris Mansion, a seaside villa on Ypsos Bay, Corfu. The photograph shows the villa emerging amidst lush greenery of olive tress and cypresses. A typical Corfiot portoni (doorway) at the one end of the estate appears as a gate to paradise on earth, an idyllic place where land and sea are in harmony. In the background the great mountain of Pantokrator is faintly discernible.

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  Ricordo di Corfu

  COMMENTARY: An album under the name in Italian "Ricordo di Corfú" (Souvenir of Corfu) is kept at the Corfu Reading Society. This is an important large leather-bound album measuring 40 by 50 centimeters, containing twenty albumen prints of landscape format and subject recording a tour at various attractions in Corfu before 1892, the year it was produced. The front cover of the album bears in Greek with the initials “T.L.”, which refers to the owner. The creator is attested to be Bartolomeo Borri (Dalmatia, Cres Isle, 1842- Trieste, 1924), the fine Italian photographer who had made Corfu his home in the period 1869-1912, and was awarded with the Honorary Medallion of the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889. The prints are not captioned and the identity of their locations was aided by Theodoros Metallinos, connoisseur of the history and landscape of Corfu. The composition of the subjects is rather casula, and their printing is partially overexposed. Nevertheless, it is remarkable to have this record of the Achilleion Palace, one of Europe's most famous royal villas, built by the Empress Elizabeth of Austria during the years 1888-1891. There are four prints relating to the Achilleion in the last phase of its construction, around 1890. The other photographs date earlier (1880-1890) and are of archaeological and naturist interest, about which the island of Corfu lends itself superbly.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #01: View of the Esplanade from the Old Fortress, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Esplanade from the Citadella, the highest point of the Old Fortress, Corfu. The Maitland Monument (1816-1824) presides on the Upper Esplanade. Fronting the Esplanade is a series of great building, including the then Public Library, formerly the Grimani Barracks (Pasqualigo???) up until the 18th century and the Ionian Academy in 1840-1864 (1 Kapodistriou Street) and the Houses of Flamburiari (4 Kapodistriou Street), Petretis (9 Kapodistriou Street) and Angelos Giallinas (12 Kapodistriou Street). The marble Statue of Capodistria (1887) by Leonidas Drossis at the Raimondo Bastion is discernible. The Douglas Obelisk (1843) is also made out at its original location near the Aktaion Café. Finally, the British-built panopticon Penitentiary (1836) appears in the distance on the left.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #02: View of the Palace of St Michael & St George, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the northeastern part of the Old Town from the Citadella, the highest point of the Old Fortress, Corfu. In the centre appears the Palace of St Michael & St George, built by General Sir George Whitmore in 1819-1824, at the Lower Esplanade. At the fortification that supports the Esplanade, rises the Orthodox Church of the Virgin Mary Mandrakina. At the left end of the photograph, it is possible to see the end of the building block of Liston (1807-1814) and the Kofineta Square. Further north it is possible to discern the Capodistria Mansion, built on designs by Ioannis Chronis in 1832 (122 Kapodistriou Street) and the Palatianos Mansion, built on designs by Ph. Rivellis in 1862 (124 Kapodistriou Street).
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  Ricordo di Corfu #03: View of the Old Port and Vido from the New Fortress, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Port and Vido from the highest point of the New Fortress, Corfu. The photograph shows warehouses in the heart of the port and high-rising houses on the right side. In the distance appears Vido, an islet at the mouth of the port of Corfu. The seaport is full of anchored steamships and sailboats of all sizes.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #04: View of Potamos, Corfu, overlooking Vido

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of Potamos in Corfu overlooking Vido. Potamos is an area west of the old town. The name of the area is due to the river (potamos) that originates from the hills of Pelekas and traverses this area. The photograph is framed by olive trees of the Damaskinos estate. At the opening of their branches, the impressively high bell tower of the Orthodox Church of St Barbarus stands out, reminiscent of the bell tower of St Spyridon. In the background, the island of Vido is dimly visible.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #05: View of Pontikonisi & Vlacherna from Kanoni, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Pontikonisi and Vlacherna islets off the Kanoni peninsula, south of Corfu Old Town. Pontikonisi is Greek for Mouse Island, and its strange shape, according to some people, may have given it its name. Its prominent feature is a Byzantine chapel of Pantokrator, dating from around the 11th century. According to Greek tradition this islet was actually the boat of Odysseus that was transformed into a rock by God Poseidon. Pontikonisi might have served as an inspiration for Arnold Böcklin's painting Isle of the Dead (1880). Vlacherna is a small monastery built in the 17th century on the other islet closer to Corfu and connected to it by a footbridge. In 1799 it officially belonged to the Chalikiopoulos-Mantzaros family. Up until 1980 if functioned as a nunnery. The name “Vlacherna” derived from the great Church of the Virgin Mary of Blachernae (50th century) in Constantinople.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #06: View of Aneomomylos from the Garitsa Waterfront, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of Aneomomylos from the Garitsa Waterfront, Corfu. Garitsa is a suburb of the city of Corfu where in the past there were several handicrafts. During the Britiish Protection, the coastal avenue was opened parallel to the waterfront. This avenue, which faces the 1065-metre-long grove from the Douglas Obelisk to the end of the Windmill, offers the people a wonderful and scenic walk.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #07: View of the Douglas Obelisk at the Upper Esplanade, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Douglas Obelisk erected since 1843 at the Upper Esplanade, Corfu Old Town. This Obelisk commemorates the works of Sir Howard Douglas, sixth Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands (29/4/1835-8/6/1841). The Douglas Obelisk was originally located opposite the Ionian Academy. Due to a landslide it was moved in 1907 at the junction of Alexandras and Demokratias avenues in the Garitsa area of Corfu. It is made of marble, about seven meters high. On the four sides of its base there are three reliefs and a votive plaque cast in bronze by the Corfiot sculptor Giovanni Calosguro (1794-1878). The first relief depicts a laurel wreath, the second the coat of arms of Commissioner Douglas and the third Corfu personified as a female goddess, sitting on a rock, holding a Cornucopia in her left hand and extending an olive branch with her right hand over the prow of a trireme in the background. The fourth relief presents an inscription by the professor of the Ionian Academy Christoforos Filitas (1787-1867), informing about some of the projects completed by Commissioner Douglas, such as the improvement of the Aqueduct, the construction of the Penitentiary, the establishment of the Ionian Bank and the Ionian High School, the construction of cemeteries, etc.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #08: View of Benitses Beach, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a beach view of Benitses, an old fishing village located 12kms south of the main town, on the southeastern coast of Corfu, within walking distance of Achilleion Palace. The village is green and its name comes from the fact that the mountain springs of Agioi Deka fed a river that literally "beni" (enters) the old village and ran through its current road. The beach is made of pebbles and sand with crystal clear waters. Typical is the large rock with a thin base called "Laopetra", part of a complex of smaller rocks in the sea at the northern entrance of the village.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #09: View of Alipa Harbour, Palaiokastritsa, from above Agia Triada Beach

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows, from above Agia Triada Beach, a view of Alipa Harbour, Palaiokastritsa. Palaiokastritsa, a Greek name meaning Old Castle, referring to the nearby Angelokastro, is a settlement in northwestern Corfu that developed near the Holy Monastery of the Virgin of Palaiokastritsa. With its rocky coast covered by pine trees, it is an area of unrivaled natural beauty. In Alypa, Paleokastritsa’s harbour, there is a natural cove that is always used as a fishing shelter where boats and small ships moore.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #10: View of the Old Fortress from Faliraki Beach, Corfu Town

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Fortress from Faliraki Beach facing Mandraki Harbour, Corfu. Above Mandraki run two series of buildings – on the left the Pasqualigo Barracks (1718-1721); and the British Officers Barracks (1850). The Pasqualigo Barracks was built by the High Commissioner of the Sea Giorgio Pasqualigo during the period 1718-1721. It was destroyed by bombs during the Second World War and was demolished after the war. Very few traces of this building are still visible today. It was a building with three floors facing the north and two in the rear side, as it followed the natural inclination of the ground; the rear side contained a two-storey colonnade. It was used for the Dalmation soldiers of the Venetian garrison and could accommodate 1200 men. The plans of the building were laid out in 1850 by the British military engineer Edmund Ogle. It is a long construction with a simple façade made of white stone. Like the other two works of the British Protectorate – the British Hospital and the Infantry Barracks – it is covered by heavy arches for protection against cannon fire. The building now houses the Department of Music Studies of the Ionian Academy. On the photograph’s right side, appears the fortification walls for the rear of the Palace of St Michael & St George (1814-1824).
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  Ricordo di Corfu #11: View of the Old Fort from the Esplanade, Corfu Town

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the western side of the Old Fortress from the Esplanade, Corfu. The building complex that appears above the walls, included the palace of the High Commissioner of the Sea, which was bombed in the 2nd World War II and subsequently demolished.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #12: View of the Old Town & Anemomylos from Mon Repos, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Old Town and the Anemomylos District from Mon Repos, Corfu. The land in the foreground includes centrally the Byzantine Church of Saints Jason & Sosipatros (11th century), and on the far right the Windmill (16th century) that gave the name to the entire district. In the background appears the Garitsa Bay and the Old Fortress.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #13: View of the Esplanade and the Liston Arcade, Corfu Town

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Esplanade that includes the Liston, Corfu Old Town. Kapodistriou Street flanking the western side of the Upper Esplanade here leads the gaze to the Liston. Liston is the name of two consecutive buildings with arcades and a pedestrian street that lines the northern half of the Esplanade. It was constructed in 1807-1814, during the French rule in the Ionian Islands, by French imperial commissioner Mathieu de Lesseps (1771-1832) on a design by the Corfiot engineer Ioannis Parmesan (1748-1826). Its name comes from the word ‘lista’ in the Venetian dialect, meaning a straight line. Actually, several cities in the Veneto have a liston – Venice, Verona, Padua, Belluno, Rovigo and Trieste. In Corfu the locals still use the word to indicate the main promenade of the Old Town. The distant end of the Lower Esplande terminates at the Palace of St Michael and St George, constructed in 1814-1824 by the English military engineer Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862).
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  Ricordo di Corfu #14: View of the Entrance of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the entrance of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu. The Achilleion was built from 1888 to 1891 in Gastouri for the Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898), also known as Sisi, after a suggestion by the Austrian consul Alexander von Warsberg. Elisabeth was deeply saddened by the tragic loss of her only son, Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria following the Mayerling incident in 1889, and a year later she had this summer palace built as a refuge. Achilleion is located about ten kilometres south of the Old Town and provides a panoramic view to the north, and across the whole southern part of the island to the Ionian Sea. The architectural style is of Pompeian order and in a sense suggests a palace of the mythical Phaeacia. The motif centred on the hero Achilles of Greek mythology, from which the name is derived. Corfu was Elisabeth's favourite vacation destination and she wanted a palace to gratify her admiration for Greece, its language and its culture. The palace was designed by Italian architect Raffaele Caritto (†1911) and built on an area of 200,000 m².
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  Ricordo di Corfu #15: View of the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Achilleion Palace from the west, nearby the Gastouri Village Square. Considering that its building works were completed in 1891, the present photograph of 1892 captures the palace when it was brand new. In the foreground appear three local figures and in the centre stands out a man in traditional costume.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #16: Peristyle of the Muses in the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Peristyle of the Achilleion Palace. Since all the artwork was inspired by ancient Greek mythology, the Peristyle is dominated by the nine marble statues of the Muses, which are accompanied by further statues of Apollo, Hermes and the Three Graces.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #17: The Dying Achilles in the Achilleion Palace, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Dying Achilles statue in the Achilleion Palace in Corfu, Greece. In Greek mythology, Achilles was a hero of the Trojan War, and the central character and greatest warrior of Homer’s Iliad. He died from a heel wound as the result of a poisoned arrow fired by Paris. According to the myth, his mother, Thetis, had dipped the infant Achilles in the river Styx, holding onto him by his heel, and he became invulnerable where the waters touched him – that is, everywhere but the areas covered by her thumb and forefinger – implying that only a heel wound could have been his downfall. Ernst Herter (Germany, Berlin, 1846-1917) was a famous German sculptor who worked in Berlin. He specialised in creating statues of mythological figures. Among his most famous works is the Sterbender Achill (Dying Achilles), created in Berlin in 1884. The statue was acquired by the Empress of Austria and became the emblematic exhibit at her palace in Corfu.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #18: View of the Menecrate's Monument in Garitsa, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Menecrate's Monument in the Garitsa area on the borders of the cemetery of ancient Corfu, facing the gate of Alkinoos Port. It is a circular tomb, constructed in the 6th century BC with an impressive archaic inscription, which is considered to be one of the most ancient inscriptions in Greece. It's a burial monument, a cenotaph in honour of Menecrates, ambassador of Corfu to Oiantheia, a town near today's town of Galaxidi. According to the inscription, the people of the town, in recognition of his offer, created the monument. The inscription, written in Corinthian alphabet, dates approximately to 600 BC, while the architecture of the cenotaph is chronologically set at 570/540 BC and there is only one similar monument at Lindos, Rhodes.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #19: The Maitland Peristyle in the Esplanade, Old Corfu Town

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Maitland Peristyle, in the southern tip of the Upper Esplanade in Corfu Old Town. It is a simple, circular, ionic monument that was erected to honour Sir Thomas Maitland (Scotland, 1760- Malta, 1824) the first Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands from 1815 until 1823. This monument was the work of English military engineer Sir George Whitmore (1775-1862), who also designed the Palace of St Michael & St George. It has 20 Ionic columns set on a circular base built with Maltese limestone.
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  Ricordo di Corfu #20: View of the Pierris Mansion on Ypsos Bay, Corfu

  COMMENTARY: The present albumen print shows a view of the Pierris Mansion, a seaside villa on Ypsos Bay, Corfu. The photograph shows the villa emerging amidst lush greenery of olive tress and cypresses. A typical Corfiot portoni (doorway) at the one end of the estate appears as a gate to paradise on earth, an idyllic place where land and sea are in harmony. In the background the great mountain of Pantokrator is faintly discernible.