On my journey through Kos my next stop is a castle made by the Byzantines
First, a bit of an historical background:
The castle was originally constructed in the Byzantine times and flourished from the 9th to the 11th century. It is also the oldest castle of Kos and was actually inhabited until the beginning of the 19th century. The entrance gate was built around the end of the 11th century AD or at the beginning of the 12th century by a byzantine administrator. During the 15th century and under the threat of a Turkish invasion the Castle was often used as a refuge for the people of the area as well as the population of the city of Kos. The castle, however, was seriously damaged by the 1493 earthquake and eventually fell into the hands of the Ottomans in 1523. Parts of the castle were restored by the Ottomans but the area was abandoned in the beginning of the 19th century due to an epidemic.
Source
There really isn't much left anymore. The main gate as well as some walls nearby are the main visual features. Although there is a small chapel inside, but it might have been built well after the original construction.
These outer defense walls seem very characteristic and they might be a distinct architectual feature by the Byzantines(?). The castle was really big as the pictures will show and was built on the top of a large plateau which would have made this location a great place to build a castle.
This is the small chapel. It is still being used as there were ornaments and decorations inside. I suppose officially it belongs to the orthodox church.
There are these really strange plants here, looking kind of alien. They have this huge bulb from which one or two shoots come from. Maybe they get flowers at a different time of year?
These following pictures show the vast landscape around the castle. What the pictures do not show is the huge drop here. It was at least 50-100 meters or so (you can see a similar drop in the distance here):
The ocean is very visible from up here which would have made this a great spot for surveying potential attackers (as Kos is an island, they would have had to come by water).
While there was not much left of the castle (I guess there is still a lot of stuff underground), it is worth traveling here just for the view. If you travel to Kos I would definitely recommend to check out this castle.
Check out the Love The Clouds Community if you share the love for clouds!