Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu Island is considered as one of the most well known landmarks which has evolved into one of the Tourist Attractions in Corfu Island. Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu Island, the finest of the British buildings in Corfu, is located along the northern side of Esplanade. It was built on a site which was formerly occupied by a Venetian hospital and it was built under Sir Thomas Mainland according to the plans designed by Sir George Whitmore in the Gregorian style.
Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu Island is built entirely in Maltese stone and the architectural style shows an influence of the British neoclassical patterns of the 19th century. The construction of the palace began in 1819 and it served as the residence of the British Lord High Commissioner till the end of the Protectorate in 1864. It was also the seat of the Ionian Senate and the headquarters of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George. It is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent while he was acting as Prince Regent for George III, his father. The order was instituted to reward the services of British colonial officials serving in the Ionian Islands and Malta. The throne-room of the palace features robes, medals and other insignia of the order on display since April 1981.
A Doric colonnade graces the facade and its two entrances ending on the right and left with two tall gateways. One leads to the harbor inscribed the 'Gate of St. George' and the other overlooks the palace gardens called the 'Gate of St. Michael'. You will find the bronze statue of Sir Frederic Adams standing in a small garden in front of the main entrance. The statue was built to tribute Sir Adams for the construction of the city's water supply and it is a work of the Corfiot sculptor Pavlos Prosalentis.
Today, the Palace of St. Michael and St. George, Corfu Island is home to the museum of Asiatic Art, a museum of Christian Art, the Archives of the Ionian Senate and the Corfu Public Library with a collection of about 60,000 volumes of Greek and foreign books.
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