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How to speak Ancient Chic at the Villa Kerylos
2010-09-10 18:42
Opening hours, admission and details
What does the celeb lifestyle mean to you? A palatial pad on the Med, a retinue of servants, stylish interior décor, the latest designer furniture, beautiful artworks? Well, things haven’t changed much in two thousand years, as a visit to the Villa Kerylos will soon prove.
Built on the shores of the sea between Monaco and Nice at the start of the twentieth century, during a craze for hedonism and Hellenism, Kerylos was the brainchild of archaeologist Theodore Reinach and architect Emmanuel Pontremoli. Their plan was nothing less than to build an exact reconstruction of a glamour palace from the second century BC.
The rooms in this exquisite mansion - its name means 'kingfisher' - are placed around a central courtyard amd are designed and named as they would have been in Ancient Greece: the balaneion, or bathroom, is made of finest Carrara marble; the triklinion, as its name implies, has three reclining couches arranged for eating in the traditional classical fashion. And Reinach’s personal bedroom, with its beautiful dolphin mosaic, is called ‘Erotes’ – enough said…
photo ©Jilly Bennett / Monte Carlo Daily Photo
The villa is particularly renowned for its beautiful furniture, all modelled on Greek originals, including the ‘tripos’ or three legged stool, and made of a fabulous variety of materials – wood, ivory, Siennese marble, alabaster, coral and opal. The sumptuous surroundings do more than transport you to a different era: they may well inspire your own ideas for interior design!
If gardens are more your thing, then you’ll find the Villa Kerylos entrancing. Here too, great attention has been paid to historical accuracy, with many of the plants and trees those that would typically be found at the other end of the Mediterranean.
In this fabulous reconstruction of the millionaire lifestyle that uncannily mirrors that of today, only one thing seems to be missing – a supertrireme.
Getting there
Nice-based Nizzatravel (+33 6 99 67 26 26) do a package including pick up in Monaco, for a half-day trip to the Villa Kerylos and the neighbouring Villa Rothschild