The year 1864 was full of conflict in lots of places—a year that saw some of the bloodiest battles of the U.S. Civil War and, thousands of miles away, Prussians and Austrian soldiers hammered Denmark over occupancy of the Schleswig peninsula. There were some bright spots, though; among them, the Ionian islands reunited with Greece on this day in 1864 after remaining under Venetian rule for centuries, followed by French rule under Napoleon, and finally British rule. It is this last influence that creates what many see as a surprising link to the British royal family, as Prince Philip—the Prince Philip—was born Philippos in Corfu in 1921, a year before Mussolini’s Fascists occupied the island. (He married Elizabeth II and was the father of the current monarch, Charles III, King of England.) He was known to be fond of the Ionian islands and often sailed there. The Ionians, one of the four ancient tribes of Ancient Greece, left a strong cultural legacy in building and craft, including the Ionic order in Greek architecture, pictured (the scrolly things in the middle of the drawing), in a Vitruvian comparison of its Roman and Greek examples. Image: public domain.
NCPA
