Greek Royal Palaces and Residences


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Odette said:
I have found that at times when it comes to places linked to royalty in a republican State, things are distorted on purpose to fit the image a country wants to portray.
In Greece there is a 30 year or so gap between the family's departure and their reappearance on the scene. A lot of young people never learnt or never cared enough to read the truth about the Greek Royals.
I wonder what the stories will be when and if Tatoi ever opens as a museum.:flowers:
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There is no hope about the truth :-(...just think of that: todays minister of Culture in Greece, Pavlos Geroulanos, is the son of the "Avlarhis" of Queen Frederica, Marinos Geroulanos. When a profesor of History tried to write a book about Tatoi and it's history, the only person who denied to speak about Tatoi, was Marinos Geroulanos...you can imagine why...
 
Odette said:
The socialist Mayor of Corfu at the time the initial claims were laid, claimed that there were some ancient ruins underneath the Mon Repos and as such, it could not be a private property for anyone but the State.
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The ancient ruins inside the estate are quite important I believe. I saw the remnants of a temple dedicated to Hera , and there is also another temple which is quite large, but I have not walked there to find it. I was told that the estate has underneath it an important part of the ancient Palaiopolis and that they are actually still digging and finding more stuff. I was surprised when I heard it I had no idea about it. On the other hand , this is Greece - if start digging in my back yard , I might find something ancient myself !

Odette said:
Snowflower, sounds to me like you were told deliberate lies by the young guide and it is a pity since you were obviously misled. Perhaps it is not the guide's fault because he/she just repeats what it was said but still, they distort the history of the Palace on purpose.:bang:
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Odette , I really hope this is not the case here, because if I ever found out I was misled on purpose, I would be really dissapointed. You see, I believe in a republic, not because I hate royals in any way, but because I really believe it is the best possible form of government , due to certain principles. Therefore, if I discover that the government's attitude towards Mon Repos and Tatoi is not a matter of negligence or lack of interest and money, but instead that our politicians actually and truly think that half a dozen of royal residences can threaten the Third Hellenic Republic 36 years after the referendumthat much that they have to stay closed to the public , I would honestly feel quite awful.
B y the way one of the best things I liked about Mon Repos was that there was not ticket ot get in. When I visited Achilleion, I unfortunately had to pay 10 euros to get in, plus 3 for the auto guide - which was a bit harsh for my poor holiday budget
 
snowflower said:
I ve beem to Corfu for vacations for the last week and at last I was able to visit Mon Repos twice. I was pleasantly surprised because it is very well maintained , I expected to see it in a bad condition. Most of the rooms in the main palace are now a museum mainly with archaiological findings from the Palaiopolis area but on the ground floor there are a few rooms dedicated to the history of Mon Repos . A very obliging guide helped me and my firends and explained to us the history of the estate . Ιt was built in 1831 as a summer residence by the British High Comissioner of the Ionians Frederick Adam who was married to a Corfiot woman ,Nina Palatianou, famous for two things in the then society : her sharp mind and her unfortunate looks. However, they didn't use it for long , because Adam was relocated to serve to India. In his will, Adam left the palace to the municipality of Corfu and it was not used until King George I rented it. According to the museum guide, he was the onlu one of the Greek Kings who ever paid a rent for its use. She also showed to us copies of the original will, which were sent to the European courts. I noticed that although there were exhibits dating back to Adam and Palatianou , there were no exhibits from the Royral family and the guide told me that all things belonging to the family have either been removed by the King after the fortune settlement or went missing. It has been hard to monitor them, because Mon Repos stayed locked for 30 years. Only two royal items are still there - a broken vase which have been restored and a painting made by Frederika. I will try and post some pictures once I put them in order.
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I understand this: In the Corfu Palace is a document in which it appears that the palace was not owned by the Greek royal family, was a lease that the Kings never paid. This paper was presented as evidence in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, by Greece . In 2000 the Strasbourg court ruled that Constantine was the owner of the palace of Corfu and the rest, it is obvious, they presented evidence that demostrated that the Greek royal family was owner of the Palace. Today in the Palace Corfu is exhibited a document that it says that the family Royal was not owner of Palace, The Tribune of strasburgo, said that THE FAMILY was the owner. All European Union countries are obliged to abide by the judgments of the Court in Strasbourg. The Court said that the owner was the Royal Family. it is a International Tribune
 
I've read somewhere that the Greek government allowed in 1991 Constantine to remove items from Tatoi and sell them at an auction later.Do you know what kind of items were those? Paintings? Furniture? And how did that actually happened since Constantine was persona non grata at that time??
 
In all States, there goods of historical value, this may be owned:
a:be owner the State or
b:be owner a private person.
In 1991 King Constantine and Greek government(Misotakis and Dora was culture minester) signed a paper return or retitucion of the property. The Government requested a inventory of goods of the the palaces. The goods were classified in:
A:historical valuables owned by the Royal family, but they could not leave Greece.
b: Goods without historical value for Greece, they could leave Greece.
Were classiefied as without historical value, all the goods relatives to the royal House of Russian and German:
The inventory determined that they had no historical value for Greece, the governnment authorized to leave Greece, were private property without historical value.
I currently haven´t the large Judgement of the Court of Strasbourg, this was a copy of the agreement with the Greek government, it was the inventary. I have not it now here ..but it was in Sentence
 
Thank you very much for your reply BELTRANEJA.I've searched for the article but i still can't find it.This family's story is so fascinating!
 
Helen Anna said:
I've read somewhere that the Greek government allowed in 1991 Constantine to remove items from Tatoi and sell them at an auction later.Do you know what kind of items were those? Paintings? Furniture? And how did that actually happened since Constantine was persona non grata at that time??
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Most of the items were sold at Christie's in 2007. They were silverware, jewelry, paintings jade and porcelain items. They belonged to the Greek royal family and their provenance were mostly from Russia. Most items belonged to King George I. The items were in the possesion of the King who removed them from Greece legally.
 
snowflower said:
The ancient ruins inside the estate are quite important I believe. I saw the remnants of a temple dedicated to Hera , and there is also another temple which is quite large, but I have not walked there to find it. I was told that the estate has underneath it an important part of the ancient Palaiopolis and that they are actually still digging and finding more stuff. I was surprised when I heard it I had no idea about it. On the other hand , this is Greece - if start digging in my back yard , I might find something ancient myself !

The issue of the ruins under the Palace came forth when the Royal family laid claim during the socialist mayor's term. I agree that they are of importance however how come no one "discovered" this until that time? A word of advice, never dig your back yard, not even to plant a tree...


Odette , I really hope this is not the case here, because if I ever found out I was misled on purpose, I would be really dissapointed. You see, I believe in a republic, not because I hate royals in any way, but because I really believe it is the best possible form of government , due to certain principles. Therefore, if I discover that the government's attitude towards Mon Repos and Tatoi is not a matter of negligence or lack of interest and money, but instead that our politicians actually and truly think that half a dozen of royal residences can threaten the Third Hellenic Republic 36 years after the referendumthat much that they have to stay closed to the public , I would honestly feel quite awful.
B y the way one of the best things I liked about Mon Repos was that there was not ticket ot get in. When I visited Achilleion, I unfortunately had to pay 10 euros to get in, plus 3 for the auto guide - which was a bit harsh for my poor holiday budget
Click to expand...

There is a lot of misinformation about the royals and whether it is intentional or not I cannot say. There is a gap of almost thirty years where the details about them were more or less hushed up. Add to this old "passions" either for or against the family and one may end up "learning" history in a much different way than what facts we lived through
 
Odette said:
Most of the items were sold at Christie's in 2007. They were silverware, jewelry, paintings jade and porcelain items. They belonged to the Greek royal family and their provenance were mostly from Russia. Most items belonged to King George I. The items were in the possesion of the King who removed them from Greece legally.
Click to expand...

Wow..It took them long enough to sell them.Very interesting piece of information,thanks a lot.
 
BELTRANEJA said:
I understand this: In the Corfu Palace is a document in which it appears that the palace was not owned by the Greek royal family, was a lease that the Kings never paid. This paper was presented as evidence in the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, by Greece . In 2000 the Strasbourg court ruled that Constantine was the owner of the palace of Corfu and the rest, it is obvious, they presented evidence that demostrated that the Greek royal family was owner of the Palace. Today in the Palace Corfu is exhibited a document that it says that the family Royal was not owner of Palace, The Tribune of strasburgo, said that THE FAMILY was the owner. All European Union countries are obliged to abide by the judgments of the Court in Strasbourg. The Court said that the owner was the Royal Family. it is a International Tribune
Click to expand...
The document inside the Mon Repos is a copy of Frederick Adam's will, who when he died left the original Mon Repos estate to Corfu. So the only thing that this exhibited paper proves is that the first owner of the place left it to the municipality of Corfu, it mentions nothing about the agreement between Corfu and the royal family. I found yesterday on the web a PDF text with the case and the court's decision and I understand that the Greek state claimed that the place was rented to George I, while King Constantine claimed that it was gifted and that his ancestor bought neighbouring lands with personal money and now the original estate only a part of the current estate. If the Court of Strasbourg ruled in favour of the King's side, then I am sure that he provided sufficient evidence to support his claim.
 
Sr. Boutaris, current mayor of Thessaloniki,belongs to a winemakers Greek family have made a very interesting proposal to the Ministry of Culture, consisting of rebuilding the old plantations of wines that had in the Tatoi property,They will have in the property a plantation of wine, the proposal has been welcomed by the Greek authorities because the family would put the money for restoration, they would exploit the Tatoi estate.
 
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oh no!!!!!!!!!!!! I know the situation of the property is difficult, so far there hasn´t been a serious restoration of the palace, some adjacent buildings have been repaired, while the Palace has not been restored, I do not like it because the usual is that from the beginning would had been repaired the Palace, but what can value have to repair the buildings where lived the palace guards?? if the important thing would be the palace.
 
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Dear friend, never it had any interest to the authorities , never, if it had existed a minimum interest in the property, for many years, it would have some utility
 
Greek palaces

I only know of Tatoi but where are the others
 
In Athens there are three (former) palaces in close proximity : The Old Palaces which I have read is the largest urban palace in Greece , was built during Otto's reign with money lent by his father and was finished in 1843. After, it was used by King George and his family .In 1909 a fire destroyed a large part of the Palace and although many royals kept rooms and appartments there , they practically abandoned its use. Since 1929 it houses the Greek Parliament
The New Palace was built on the purpose to be the residence of the Crown Prince. It was a gift of the Greek State to Crown Prince Constantine and the construction started after his marriage to Sophie of Prussia.After the 1909 fire on the Old Palace it became the main Palace whenever Greece was a Monarchy. today it is the Presidential Residence
Another very beautiful palace , although smaller, is the Nicholas Palace or Petit Palais. It was a wedding gift from Tsar Nicholas II to his first cousins upon their marriage. It took a few years to be built , and the couple's last daughter Marina was born there. After they returned from their second exile, Prince Nicholas decided to sell it and bought another smaller residence in the Phychiko area. It was originally bought by the Hotel Grande Bretagne and today it houses the Italian Embassy. I have also read that George and Marie Bonaparte also had a palace in the Kolonaki area but I have no information about it. There were also other royal residences in the capital but I don't think there are big enought to qualify as " palaces" , not that the others are extremely large - most royal residences would be classified as upper middle class or aristocratic villas in terms of size
 
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when I read about Queen sofia, I read always that she was born in Palace of Psychiko, but when I travelled to Athens and I saw to the Palace, it was not really a Palace, it was a great house( It was abandoned), but it was not form of palace.
 
Iris not get too close..... . I wonder what will be the future of the Palace of Tatoi? The Government is selling many assets in public ownership , could be the Palace of Tatoi between these. there must be an offer to buy at the Ministry of Culture..
 
why do yu say this??????"..offer to buy.." Who???
 
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As per Greek law, there is no recognition of a royal family of Greece. I know that fact is simply ignored within this forum because it does not serve the purpose of the forum. Just because the ex-royal family of Greece claims to still be the GRF, does not make it so! They still hold their titles because of the Congress of Vienna 1815, but still are not the GRF. Greek law itself states that no royal family of that country exists. The claimant to this non-existent throne is simply hanging on to delusions of a grand future for him and his family. I do not think history will treat him well as he appears weak by not choosing a last name for him and other family members. His refusal to so, only shows his unwillingness to move Greece forward. I am only stating my understanding of this particular situation. Any other assumptions should not be made about this post.
 
What does Constantine's unwillingness to adopt a last name have to do with the sale of the property at Tatoi? Hasn't the royal family already been compensated for the seizure of their private lands? And if Constantine does not wish to adopt a surname, how is this keeping Greece from moving forward? I don't think the public or the government gives two figs about the lack of a surname.
 
Nikolopoulus said:
Iris not get too close..... . I wonder what will be the future of the Palace of Tatoi? The Government is selling many assets in public ownership , could be the Palace of Tatoi between these. there must be an offer to buy at the Ministry of Culture..
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Tatoi Palace is owned by the Greek State since 1994 a. But Nikolopoulus, have you suggested that it is for sale?
 
I believe that Nikolopoulus said it might end up in sale , not that it is
 
Filipposathens said:
Sr. Boutaris, current mayor of Thessaloniki,belongs to a winemakers Greek family have made a very interesting proposal to the Ministry of Culture, consisting of rebuilding the old plantations of wines that had in the Tatoi property,They will have in the property a plantation of wine, the proposal has been welcomed by the Greek authorities because the family would put the money for restoration, they would exploit the Tatoi estate.
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but this operation might have been frustrated by the liquidity needs of the state, in the inventory of state owned assets, would be the palace of Tatoi and may be among the assets to sell or to award it to Greek and foreign banks to which the state owes money.
 
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thanks.

Warren
Administrator
 
There is no Greek law that outlaws the existence of the Greek Royal Family.
The Palaces and different villas the family had at its disposal since George I, have all become property of the State.
Now that just about everything of value the State owns is up for sale, perhaps Tatoi will be sold to someone who would respect the Palace enough to properly restore it and turn it into a museum.
 
haha . .I do not believe that nobody would buy this palace to make a museum, it would cost more than the palace. the person who would buy it,they might make their residence, Psychiko was sold two years ago,it was say that it would be one museum,today is a private residence
 
:previous: I was hoping someone with ready cash and respect for the location's history would turn it into a museum. Does not mean it will ever happen:flowers:
Psychiko was sold many moons ago to a Cypriot shipowner who obviously resold it a couple of years ago. The family did not own it for a long time.
 
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