Location information

Gastouri Community

The village of Gastouri is set amid beautiful scenery on a green hillside. Dominating the hilltop is the Achillio, built for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, the renowned Sissy, in 1890-91 by the Italian architect Kapita. The Empress had a soft spot for the Homeric hero Achilles, and so named her palace after him. The neoclassical building is set amid magnificent gardens. The back part of the garden is dominated by the statue of "Achilles Dying", a creation of the German sculptor Herter. Some of Sissy's personal possessions are kept on the lower floor of the palace. After her murder the Achillion was purchased by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.