Castles in Greece and the islands
Various epochs of competing man tend to have a remarkably similar value system when it comes to real estate. One of mans first needs is security and its pursuit is among the most ancient of human endeavors. An area of protection for the family hearth, tribe and social group is necessary to preserve survival, food stores, stored goods, language and culture.
An areas strategic position, its harbors, the availability of water, the arability of its land and its mineral deposits all add to the value of certain locations and make them worth the extra effort to defend and attack.
In Greece, with its successive military rulers, certain areas therefore have both ancient fortifications and medieval fortresses of which some of the later structures are built atop the previous even using pre-existing masonry. Obviously this isn't going to do the earlier structure much good but it was a common enough practice even in Perikles time.
If you can't make it to the Greek islands for lack of time but want to see a great castle, try Naufplion's Palamidi Castle in the Peloponnese only 2 hours by car from Athens. Palamidi is one of the largest, best preserved and best maintained castles in Greece. You can combine Palamidi with two famous nearby ancient bastions, Mycenaea and Tyrins, en route and still be in Athens for a late dinner. Out door sites tend to close at dusk or earlier (7-8 PM in high summer) so an early start is recommended if you want to see all three. Some castles are little more than inaccessible ruins but others such as Palamidi are well worth the effort to visit and old Naufplion a wonderful little town too!
After the sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204 new rulers settled in the Peloponnese, the Ionian and the Aegean islands and tended to found their defensive network upon the pre-existing and added new wherever they thought it was necessary, complying with contemporary military techniques and weapons. The Venetians established mainly commercial bases allowing them access to Venice and control of commercial routes. The Knights Hospitallers on the other hand after being expelled from the coast of Asia Minor constructed purely military defensive structures in order to protect themselves, the island inhabitants and the commercial routes.
New construction was more numerous in the islands of the Dodecanese where the Knights of the Hospitallers of Saint John (ex-Jerusalem) had to defend a specific area as close to the Holy Land as possible. On the ten islands of the Dodecanese which made up the empire of the Knights, 56 castles, including fortified monasteries are known. 21 of them are located in Rhodes and 35 in the other nine islands. Only two of those can securely be dated to between the late 7th and 9th centuries. According to historical sources 6 more castles were built earlier than the period of the Hospitallers. These include: on Rhodes: Lindos, Faraklo and Filerimos, Pili Castle on Kos, and on Leros, Pandeli and Lepedis Castles. Most of these castles were purely defensive and not designed to withstand a long siege or to overcome the invaders. Castles served as refuge for the people when the whole island or the castle itself was under attack. An exception to this was in 1458 on the island of Symi when the castle repelled an invading force of 7,000 Ottoman Turks. The Turks finally captured Rhodes in 1522 thus ending the Hospitallers ascendancy.
On larger islands, with more than one castle, defensive plans were drawn detailing which would shelter the people of specific villages. Castles were paid for out of the Public Fund of the Order. Sometimes an extraordinary tax was imposed on the islands residents which they were more than willing to pay. During the latter half of the 15th C with the order under decline, aid was infrequent or non existent from the Pope and the regents of the West who were constantly squabbling for power amongst themselves. The Venetians even traded with the Turks and didn't want to upset them. The Genovese were more helpful and enemies/rivals of the Venetians.
Although built by the Order, island residents were obliged to help in castle construction and maintenance. In addition to paid workers, they also used their own slaves and slaves of island residents if necessary. On the smaller islands defense was the responsibility of the islands leadership but always under Hospitaller supervision. To minimize surprise attacks, the Knights used an elaborate network of coast watchers, spies and informers particularly in Constantinople to be informed as to the state of readiness of the Ottoman navy. Sometimes they allowed the settlement of other islanders on Rhodes on coastal land under the stipulation, a coast watch would be kept.
There are many more castles in the Cyclades as well and these were mostly Norman, Frankish and Turkish in origin. Castles everywhere, since many are up high, in out of the way places with excellent views make a great hiking destination away from tour buses. Many more one can drive to such as Acro Corinth and then hike amongst what some have called 'the best fortified position in Europe'. Its certainly one of the best views in Greece.
The major Medieval Castles on Greek islands
- Rhodes: The medieval town, Filermos, Faraklo, Lindos, Kremasti, Archangelos, Salakos, Lardos, Kastelos, Siana, Monolithos, Asklipio, Katavia, Paradissi, Koskinou, Apolona, Apoloaki, Kitala, Lahania, Psinthos and watch towers.
- Kastellorizo: Paleokastro, Rosso
- Kos: Paleo Pili, Nerantzia, Peripatos, Andimahia, Kefalos
- Halki: Horio
- Simi: Horio
- Tilos: Megalo Horio, Mikro Horio, Messaria
- Nissiros: Mandraki
- Kalimnos: Hora, Hrisshoria
- Leros Pandeli, Ksirokambos
Dodecanese & the Knights Hospitallers
- Corfu town
- Lefkada: the Castles of Santa Maura, Alexander, Constantine
- Kefallonia: Castle of St. George
- Paxi: Castel of Aghios Nicolaous
- Zakynthos: Castle of
Ionian Islands & the Venetians
There are of course major fortifications on Crete and other islands which you can read about in the individual island guides. I hope this page gives you a good overview.