Kerylos Villa

Théodore Reinach, an archaeologist and French statesman fascinated with Greek civilisation recreated a Greek villa on the rocky tip of the Baie des Fourmis. It was designed and built between 1902 and 1908 based on the model of noble houses on the Island of Delos from the 2nd century BC

Designed by architect Emmanuel Pontremoli, the villa is entirely furnished and decorated. A reinvention of ancient Greece, the house combines ancient luxury with the modern comfort of Belle Epoque villas using luxury materials such as stucco, Carrara marble and exotic wood, together with a sumptuous decoration incorporating mosaics and frescoes illustrating the stories of ancient gods and classic heroes. The villa is organised around a central courtyard surrounded by marble columns.

Reinach spent his holidays here with his family and, on his death in 1928, he bequeathed it to the Institut de France. In 1967 it became a national monument.