Fortresses in Greece
Most
travellers that come to Greece are usually interested in
visiting temples and sites of the classical world. Greece has
much more than this , some attention should be given to the
Greek history during the Byzantine Empire and after the fall of
Constantinople until the emergence of the Greek Kingdom in the
XIX century.
Venice had
no large army, but had a powerful fleet, so the strategy was to
hang on to the Greek possessions and that meant building a
fortresses which could resist the Turkish attack until help
could arrive from the sea. To achieve this in 1542 a Magistracy
of Fortresses was established, which had jurisdiction over
fortifications in the maritime and mainland dominions, and over
the arsenals of sea territories of the Republic. By hovering on
the blue dots you can read the name of the fortress (the names
are those given by the Venetians) and by clicking on them you
move to the related page.
Fortress of
Santa Maura - western side
This
fortress was built in the XIV century and retains memories of
both Turks and Venetians. In particular there are some cannons,
where the name of the manufacturer (Camozzi in Bergamo) can
still be read. The seizing of Santa Maura in 1716 was one of the
few victories Venice reported in the otherwise disastrous second
war of Morea.
The Old
Fortress
of Corfu -.
On account of its great strategic importance Corfu was subjected
to many attacks. Corfiots took part in many battles. One famous
naval battle was the Lepanto battle (1571) to which Corfu sent 4
galleys and 1,500 men. On two different occasions the city of
Corfu was besieged by the Turks (1537 and 1716).
After the disastrous siege of 1537 the Venetian authorities
decided to fortify the city. Works on the fortress lasted almost
a century and ended in 1645, making Corfu one of the most
heavily fortified places in Europe
When you’re
in Peloponnesos the fortress is a definite stop, it’s located in
Epidaurus . It’s a Mycenean fortress with much of the gold
displayed at the National Archaeological Museum, the fortress
has gargantuan walls, cylindrical tomb shafts, and the
double-lion gate. Wear good shoes and watch your step - the ramp
way leading to the gate was made steep to permit easy defense of
the palace from marauders.
Just a few
kilometres from Athens, we find the village of Fyli. In Fyli you
will find one of the Ancient Attic frontier fortresses. After
the Peloponnesian war Athens built a ring of frontier fortresses
designed to protect Attica against an attack from Megarid and
Boetia to the west. Beginning with the fortified town of Eleusis
on the west, this defensive system continued with the effort of
Anakton and the town of Oinoe on Mt.Kithairon(northwest of
Eleusisi) and then east of Phyle Dekellia and Aphnidato the
coastal strong hold of Rhamnous.
In response
to the construction of Anakton the city of Megara built a
counter fortification at Agio Sthena, the most northerly point
in its territory.
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