Palace of St. Michael and St. George is a palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

 in Corfu City on the island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 of Corfu

Corfu

Corfu is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the second largest of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the edge of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The island is part of the Corfu regional unit, and is administered as a single municipality. The...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

. The Greek name is "Palaia Anaktora" (Παλαιά Ανάκτορα: literally "Old Palaces").

The palace was built by Sir Frederick Adam

Frederick Adam

General Sir Frederick Adam GCB GCMG was a Scottish major-general at the Battle of Waterloo, in command of the 3rd Brigade. He was the fourth son of William Adam of Blair Adam and his wife Eleanora, the daughter of Charles Elphinstone, 10th Lord Elphinstone.-Military career:At the age of fourteen...

, the British Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands

United States of the Ionian Islands

The United States of the Ionian Islands was a state and amical protectorate of the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1864. It was the successor state of the Septinsular Republic...

. It served as the high commissioner's residence, but was also the home of the Ionian Senate and the Order of St Michael and St George

Order of St Michael and St George

The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, while he was acting as Prince Regent for his father, George III....

. The foundation stone was laid on St. George's day in 1819. The location is between the old town of Corfu and the Venetian

Venetian

Venetian may refer to:*Venetian language, a language spoken in Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Mexico, Istria and Brazil.* Venetian cuisine* Venetian wine*Historical inhabitants of the Republic of Venice...

 citadel

Citadel

A citadel is a fortress for protecting a town, sometimes incorporating a castle. The term derives from the same Latin root as the word "city", civis, meaning citizen....

.

After the union of Corfu with Greece in 1864, the palace served as a royal residence until the Second World War. It miraculously survived Mussolini's bombardment of Corfu City in reprisal for the Janina murders. It suffered greater damage from its use as a temporary housing for the refugees from Epirus

Epirus

The name Epirus, from the Greek "Ήπειρος" meaning continent may refer to:-Geographical:* Epirus - a historical and geographical region of the southwestern Balkans, straddling modern Greece and Albania...

 during the Greek civil war

Greek Civil War

The Greek Civil War was fought from 1946 to 1949 between the Greek governmental army, backed by the United Kingdom and United States, and the Democratic Army of Greece , the military branch of the Greek Communist Party , backed by Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania...

. The Greek state was only able to restore the palace interiors in 1954 with the help of a private trust organised by Sir Charles Peak

Charles Peak

Charles Peak is a bare rock peak, high, surmounting the southeast end of the Collier Hills in the Heritage Range. It was mapped by the United States Geological Survey from surveys and from U.S. Navy air photos, 1961–66, and named by the Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names for Charles E....

, the then British Ambassador to Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

. Up to 1967, the Greek king occasionally used the palace on state occassions while in residence at his nearby villa, Mon Repos

Mon Repos, Corfu

Mon Repos is a villa on the island of Corfu, Greece. It lies south of Corfu City in the forest of Palaiopolis.The villa was built as a summer residence for the English Commissioner Thomas Maitland, and his Greek spouse, Corfiot Nina Palatianou, in 1828-1831, although they had to vacate the villa...

.

Today the palace houses the Museum of Asian art of Corfu

Museum of Asian art of Corfu

Museum of Asian art of Corfu is a museum in Corfu , Greece. It is dedicated to the art of Asia, with collections of Chinese art, Japanese art, Indian art and others.Entrance fee in October 2009 is 3 euros....

. The collection of the museum started in 1927 and consists mostly of donations, the largest being from Gregorios Manos with 10,500 pieces.

The palace is designed in Regency

Regency

Regency is the rule of a regent. It may also refer to:* Specific periods when a throne was vacant:** Regency in France, 1715–1723, a.k.a. Régence** British Regency, 1811–1820*The Hōjō Regency during the Kamakura shogunate in Japan.- Other:...

 style by the British architect George Whitmore

George Whitmore

- Biography :George Whitmore lived in Manhattan.He was a member of The Violet Quill, the Gay Academic Union and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.Alongside his novels and non-fiction work, he wrote for the New York Times Magazine,the Advocate, the New York Native, and Christopher Street.- Bibliography...

, who was a colonel and later general in the Royal Engineers

Royal Engineers

The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....

. It primarily consists of white Maltese stone. The two gateways which flank the palace are the gate of St. Michael and the gate of St. George. The state rooms consist of a grand staircase, a rotunda in the centre leading to two large rooms, the throne room and the state dining room.

Gardens

The palace gardens, complete with old Venetian stone aquariums, exotic trees and flowers, overlook the bay through old Venetian fortifications and turrets. The local sea baths are at the foot of the fortifications surrounding the gardens. A café on the grounds includes its own art gallery, with exhibitions of both local and international artists. It is locally known as the Art Café. From the same spot, the viewer can observe ships passing through the narrow channel of the historic Vido island (Νησί Βίδου) to the north, on their way to Corfu harbour (Νέο Λιμάνι), with high speed retractable aerofoil ferries from Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa

Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....

cutting across the panorama. A wrought-iron aerial staircase is also to be found, closed to garden visitors, descending to the sea from the gardens, and used by the Greek Royal family as a shortcut to the baths. Rewriting history, locals now refer to the old Royal Gardens as the "Garden of the People" (Ο Κήπος του Λαού).