Our dear friend, Tatiana told us that, newly wed in Austria, she had meticulously interrogated the descendants of the people linked to the Mayerling case. She had mostly collected testimonies concerning the archduchess that had replaced the empress during her absences. Who at the time held the position of mistress of the house? Was it…
King Rudolf II, an odd fellow and a master of the occult, governed his kingdoms from a magic castle in Prague. He had no legitimate heir. He had a ba stard son, however, Julio, whom he adored. He even gave him the vast Cesky Krumlov castle in Krumau as a home, but Julio proved to be not…
Since times immemorial, one room upstairs seemed to host particularly impressive apparitions. It had remained locked for centuries and no one dared venture there. However, one night, the cries and rattles had reached such violence that the Lord Strathmore of the time had decided to see for himself. He had gone up to the threshold…
On November 1st 1285, the King of Scotland, Alexander III, remarried. He had lost his first wife, two sons and a daughter, and the heir to the kingdom was now his young grand-daughter. It was a delicate situation and so he decided to try to have a male heir. He himself had been 8 years…
Lucia di Lammermoor is Donizetti’s best-known opera. It’s the story of a young, aristocratic Scottish girl who is in love with with a noble and handsome, but poor young lord, whose parents are against their union. Lucy is forced to break up with him and he moves far away. Her parents make Lucy marry a…
We cross a hill near Aghia Elessa then begin our descent into the unknown. There is a dirt track, rocks and stones and the sea. Nothing else. There are no houses, no roads, no telegraph poles. The hills rise up in the distance, the sea is an intense blue and there are no signs of…
In 1850, an Irish doctor by the name of Charles Hern was appointed by the British authorities as resident physician on the island of Kythera. He was young and was blessed with the typical charm of the Irish. One evening, at a ball at the British governor’s palace, he met a young Kytheran girl, Rosa…
That morning, October 9th 1821, an inhabitant of Karava saw everything. He went straight to Hora and denounced the killers. The English governor ordered a police inspector to go immediately to Karava. The inspector’s name was Jean Kasimatis, and he was a member of one of the dynasties which had ruled over Kythera for a…
It was during, or at the end of the World War. A young Austrian pianist arrived on a Greek island. He was handsome, and alone. He was talented. The two sisters belonged to the island’s aristocracy. Among their numerous properties, they prefered one they had called “happiness”. It was situated on top of a hill…
Yanni is the head of the largest family on the island of Spetses. He is also one of the most renowned butterfly experts in the Balkans. He is a contemporary of mine, and a friend. His family has an interesting history. In the early 19th century, his ancestors were shipowners. But at the time, there…