AT A GLANCE
Why go?
On the wooded Kanoni peninsula, barely two kilometres from the heart of Corfu town, the Museum of Palaiopolis – Mon Repos pairs an elegant 19th-century villa with the ancient city that grew up around it. The museum takes its name from Palaiopolis, the 'old town' that was once the Greek colony of Corcyra, and it unfolds across two intertwined stories: the colourful modern history of the building itself, and the deeper archaeological tale of the sanctuaries, agora and baths that lie in the parkland outside its doors.↗↗↗
It is a visit with a pleasant rhythm to it: a stroll through gardens and open-air ruins, an afternoon inside bright period rooms, and a clear, well-paced walk from the Regency world of British governors to the marble and terracotta of ancient Greek Corfu. Comfortable and unhurried, it is one of the most rewarding things to do on a trip to Corfu town — and the estate grounds around the villa are free to wander whenever you feel like a break from the crowds.↗
A Regency Villa with Two Lives
The museum's home is every bit as intriguing as its collections. The Mon Repos villa was built between 1828 and 1831 as the residence of Sir Frederick Adam, Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands during the British protectorate, and it remains a textbook example of early-19th-century neoclassical design in the relaxed, elegant idiom of the British Regency. Inside, one room is still dressed in that original Regency style, giving a vivid sense of how the island's governors lived at the height of Anglo rule.