New Society of (well off) friends of Corfu with an interest in Mon Repos

One winter morning in 1992, at the time when there was an ongoing court dispute between the Municipality and members of the former Greek royal family regarding the property, a group of European executives who were visiting Corfu asked to take a walk in the Mon Repos estate which had been closed for decades. The local authority at the time (Mayor Sarlis) had access to the property and even though - because of the ongoing court case - it couldn’t be done ‘officially’, the visitors were taken there and expressed their admiration for what they saw. The group of foreigners included, coincidentally, agronomists who expressed their surprise at the wealth of rare plants that could be seen.

Years passed and at a later date a Presidential Decree regarding the care of what was once the royal summer estate called for the establishment of a Management Body made up of the relevant Ministries, Services and the Municipality. It was never set up. It was judged that the supervision of the Municipal Development Company (ANEDK) was sufficient and the Presidential Decree was left in the drawer.

Society of Friends

These memories were awoken by the news of the establishment of the Society of Friends of Corfu, which has been set up to look after the beautiful rare species in the botanical garden. It’s an idea that some distinguished rich people have had for several years and is now coming into fruition. A prime mover has been Mr. G. David (Coca Cola) who, according to reliable sources, has already funded the study for the restoration of the gardens – with the agreement of the Municipality. The study is being carried out by a British landscape architecture company, whose personnel have visited the site on numerous occasions, held meetings and collected materials for their study.

Members of the Society of Friends of Corfu include Messrs Voulgaris, Tsaousoglou, Vlastos, Kogevinas, Rigakou, Dendias out of a total of 21 and membership is still open. The Municipality is represented by the architect Mr. Stanellos of the Old own office. The aim of the Society is to look after the estate and to this end the founders are looking to raise money from the donations of friends through their bank accounts as well as from Foundations. The set-up is based on the model of the Butrint Foundation in Albania, an archaeological site which was once a Corfu colony. The next steps they are looking at is the establishment of a Management Body for the estate, most of which belongs to the Municipality and has been declared a fully-protected archaeological site.