Agios Nikolaos

On the small island in the bay of Agios Nikolaos, off north-eastern Zakynthos, the ruins of an early-Christian church and monastery survive amid a scatter of old stone. Among them, perched at the top of the rock, stand the remains of a Venetian watchtower, or vardiola, dating from the seventeenth century or later. Its plan is unusual: essentially circular, but with a protrusion on the eastern side, a quirk that suggests a practical purpose rather than mere ornament, perhaps to widen the field of view or brace the structure against the wind. The condition today is rather poor, with much of the masonry fallen or overgrown, yet the outline remains legible. The tower speaks to a time when Venice kept a wary eye on these waters, and the island’s older Christian buildings beneath it hint at a much longer history of habitation, now reduced to a quiet, weathered scatter of walls.