Asimi

In the small Laconic village of Asimi, within the Municipality of Evrota, stands an 18th century Ottoman tower house, one of the few surviving structures of its kind. Asimi once formed part of the Bardounochoria, a region the Ottomans, after 1715, deliberately settled with Turks, Albanians and converted Greeks. This was a strategic move, for the area bordered the ever-troublesome Mani, and a Muslim population was intended to curb that region's rebelliousness. Between 50 and 80 such tower houses were raised across the Bardounochoria during the 18th and early 19th centuries, and several remain. With the 1821 revolution, the Muslim inhabitants fled, though the village was twice seized by Ibrahim Pasha's forces. The tower itself was likely inhabited until the early 20th century. It survives to its original height, but poorly: the entire east side has collapsed, and ivy covers one remaining wall. No defensive features are now visible, likely due to later alterations, though these towers certainly possessed a defensive character.