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Methoni’s castle



The castle of Methoni occupies the whole area of the cape and the southwestern coast to the small islet that has also been fortified with an octagonal tower and is protected by the sea on its three sides.

Its north part, the one that looks to land, is covered by a heavily fortified acropolis.
A deep moat separates the castle from the land and communication was achieved by a wooden bridge.

The Venetians built on the ancient battlements and added on and repaired it during both periods that they occupied the castle.

The entrance gate ends in an arch framed on the right and left by pilasters with Corinthian capitals.

It is considered to be the work of Venetians after 1700. On the right and left of the entrance two large battlements can be seen.

Right after the central gate, a domed road opens up that leads through a second gate and then a third in the interior of the castle, where the habitable part was and which was separated from the north part with a vertical low wall (approximately 6 meters), fortified with five towers (four square and one octagonal) is dated to the period after 1500, when the Turks tried to reinforce the population and the fortification of the caste.

In the interior there are ruins of the houses where the venetian lords lived during the period of rise, the paved street that led to the sea gate, the ruins of a Turkish bath, the Byzantine church of St. Sophia, close to which a slate with Latin lettering was found (dating back to 1714), parts of Doric pillars, a monolithic granite pillar, unlined, with a capital on the top of Byzantine style, which is supposed to have supported either the winged lion of Saint Mark, the symbol of Venice, or the bust of Morosini. That is why it is erroneously called “Morosini’s stele”.

There was an inscription on the capital that has not survived to this day. On the left of the entrance are the ruins of the building which originally Imbrahem used as a residence in 1826 and later general Maison. The French of the liberating corps remained in the area till 1833 and the construction of the church of Santa Sotira, which is still attributed to them. In the interior of the castle there are also a few cisterns and the remains of the British prisoner’s cemetery during the World War II.

On the south part of the walls rises the spectacular sea gate which has recently been restored.

A stone-paved stretch leads over a small bridge to the small fortified islet of Bourtzi.

Nowadays the walls of the fortress, even though in ruins, continue to be impressive.

Notes

  1. greece-likenoother posted this

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