Castle of Chora Kythera island

On the Kythera island the most characteristic monument is the castle of Chora! The castle or “Fortezza” was built in the 13th century when Kythera was dominated by the Venetians. The “Eye of Crete” as it was also called due to its strategic position, providing the observance of ships on three seas simultaneously – the Ionian, Aegean and Cretan, was built over different phases of the island’s history, but the biggest and main part including the facade was built in 1503 by the Venetians, who repaired and reconstructed it.

At the castle’s entrance you can see the tunnel or else “fossa”! Crossing the big tunnel underneath the headquarters you’ll reach the headquarters square with the big 16th century church – originally the Catholic “Our Lady of the Latins”. In 1806 the church was inaugurated as orthodox, commemorating Mirtidiotissa. On the foot of the castle, a second perimeter wall enclosed the nucleus of the medieval town of Chora, the Burgo with its astonishingly many churches still preserved today in good condition. Walking through the paths of the castle and Chora of Kythera, visitors inevitably feel like journeying to a bygone era, as they meet in every step with pieces of a historical past which was left intact, like a ghost city that all of a sudden comes back to life.

Video by: Γιώργος Καλλίγερος