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.
