The chic residences that were built for monarchs are the most admirable places in Greece. The palaces, villas, castles are the city treasures. They are hot interest for tourists. This article is going to help you to gather together all top interest architectural masterpieces of Greece with their short description and characteristics. Just hire a car in Athens to start your architectural trip.
Achilleon, Corfu
Achilleon is a beautiful island that was named after the ancient Greek hero – Achilles. The statues of this ancient hero decorate the hall of the palace and terrace. The palace is not very big, but very beautiful and highly decorated: marble stairs, pictures, furniture encrusted with crystals and jewels. The patio is also beautiful. It is very pleasant to walk here, passing by interesting statues, benches that are great many in the park. The viewing platforms are organized in different parts of the park, opening the most admirable sea views.
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes
The palace of the Grand Masters was a special place, where 19 Masters of Knights controlled the country from the top of a hill. You know, this place was the colossal building dedicated to the sun god. The building was destroyed many times. Nevertheless, the palace was restored in the 20th century to be the residence of great Benito Mussolini. You can see the beautiful halls, elegant furniture, inner patio and carved entry gates.
President Hall
The palace was built in 1868 by King George the 1st in honor of his new born son. There was a great project of a future President Hall. Actually, the project was realized in 21 years, when the young prince got married. The President Hall was built as a present to the glorious couple. The Royal palace building was destroyed from a big fire in 1909. So, the Royal family moved to the new-built President Hall. So, this building was official president residence.
Palace of St. Michael and St. George
This palace was constructed by English. This is a unique place for excursions. So, it was built is 1819-1824 as a residence for the Greek High Commissioner. Nevertheless, it was the Royal residence to emphasize the atmosphere of the Royal way of life.
The tourists from all over the world come here to learn the history of the Royal family. It is called the Center of Asian Arts now. More than 10 000 of interesting exhibits are waiting for your attention. You can see the art samples from China, Japan, India and other colorful countries. Look around! Do you like neoclassic? This building is good for other buildings of the city. This is the only one palace of Georgian architecture in Mediterranean world.
Knights Castle
This castle was built in the 14th-16th centuries. It was time when the island was the property of the order of St. John, who decided to build this castle as effective method to protect from the dangerous raids. The building was constructed room the massive marble platforms. The castle is surrounded by the massive defensive wall. Of course, the castle is old but accurate and well-conditioned. The numerous tourists can see with their own eyes the beauty of columns, glorious stony bridge, ancient chapels.
Cnossos Palace
This palace can be comparable by age just with Egypt pyramids. The time of building is dated with the 2nd century BC. It is amazing, but the building period was longer than thousands of years. The area of the palace is about 20 000 square kilometers. It consists of a complex system of hundreds of different accommodations that seemed to be very interesting and wavy labyrinth for Greeks.
There are many legends about the Cnossos Palace. Of course, it is enough to meet the most popular one. It says about Minotaur and Theseus. The palace was a place, where the King Minos prisoned demi bull-demi human for years. This scaring monster asked for tribute – 7 boys and 7 girls. Theseus killed Minotaur and saved people.
Never miss your chance to walk through the wavy labyrinth of the ancient palace. You can see antique frescos to learn more about religious events, games, flowers and birds, fantastic griffin. Pay attention to interesting columns – they are architectural masterpieces. Their form is narrow at the bottom that is the strange and unusual fact for ancient builders.
Phaistos Palace
Phaistos Palace is one of the most respectable ancient buildings that you can visit in Greece. It is said that it is 4 000 years old. The founders of the castle were the myth king of the island – Minos and his brother Rhadamantys. It is said but the palace was destroyed with the strong earth quake. Nevertheless, the palace was restored and again, destroyed in 1450 because of unknown reason. That was a big disaster that destroyed palace and other buildings in the island.
The palace is also famous of that fact that the well-known historical artifact Phaistos Disk was discovered here. This is a unique circle with the ancient symbols on it. It is a symbol of Cyprus. You can meet this special symbol in form of different souvenirs that you usually come from Greece.
Palace Vafipetro
Actually, this is not a palace but ruins. Vafipetro was discovered in the middle of the last century. This not big two-leveled building is covered with the colorful plaster. The palace was built in 1600 BC. Then, the building was neglected and restored later. This is ahistorical place that everyone must see. Do you want to learn more about the way of life of ancient Greeks? Just walk around the palace territory. You can see grape pressing, oil pressing, weaving machines, pottery equipment, amphora decorated with interesting ornament and many other things from the past.
Of course, the list is not full. Never forget about a vast number of historical buildings situated all over the country. They are huge, glorious, impressive and historically important for next generations. There is nothing better than seeing everything with your own eyes.
