Castles in Greece
Castles in Greece were once linked to legends and traditions but
now are symbols of security and military power. Although,
nowadays, castles are used as settings for presenting cultural
events and other social events , once inside memories flood
one’s mind of the times gone by when kings, knights and their
fair ladies were playing a leading role on these same grounds.
Located
at the top of the highest peak of the Corfu shoreline in the
northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa in Greek meaning Old
Castle place and it was built on a particularly steep and
rocky terrain, Angelokastro in Greek it literally means Angelos'
castle is one of the most important Byzantine castles of
Greece and certainly of Corfu.
The
origin of its name is not completely clear, with some historians
mentioning that in 1214 Michael I Komnenos Doukas of Epirus,
sometimes called Michael Angelos, annexed Corfu to Epirus and
following his death, Michael II Komnenos Doukas, often called
Michael Angelos in narrative sources, further fortified the area
and named it after himself and his father: Angelokastro.
The Despots were related to the Komnenoi dynasty of Byzantine
emperors.
Angelokastro forms an Acropolis that surveyed the region all
the way to the southern Adriatic and therefore presented a
formidable strategic vantage point to the dwellers of the
castle. The engineering of its constructionn at such a remote
and forbidding location is remarkable by any standards, not only
medieval. It played a key role during the Great Siege of Corfu
in 1571 when the Turkish attack on the northwestern flank of
Corfu was successfully repulsed by the defenders of the castle.
Methoni Castle
Location
Methoni castle lies at the southernmost end of the west
Peloponnisian coast.
Although the sea surrounding the castle acts as a communication
channel providing access to the port for servicing ships and
transporting cargo, it was also very efficiently used so as to
keep intruders/enemy ships in a safe distance without allowing
them to wonder around close to the fort. This was accomplished
with the creation of an underwater ditch and the construction of
a damn that would allow through a very narrow opening, free
passage to only a single ship at a time. Consequently when/if
enemy ships approached the castle through this opening, they
were dealt with one at a time, thus more efficiently as opposed
to fighting many ships at the same time.
Taigeto
castles - This area became of
distinctive historical importance in the Franc times. After the
Francs conquered Constantinopolis in 1204 for the better
supervising of the area they built three castles in Taigeto: one
near Githio under the name of Passava, another - the castle of
Megalis Manis or Mainis on the western area of Taygetos and the
third one - the castle of Lefktrou near Kardamili.
After the defeat of Prince Wilhelm Villardouinos in 1259 near
Pelagonia the three Peloponnesian castles of Mistra, Mani and
Monemvasia passed to a new ruler, Emperor Ioannis Paleologue.
Very soon the rest castles of Mani followed the same fate.
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