Castle of Thivas

The Frankish rulers of medieval Thebes left little behind but this: a single, stubborn square tower standing inside the courtyard of the city's archaeological museum. It is the surviving remnant of the castle-palace raised on the ancient acropolis of Kadmia by Nicolas II Saint-Omer, the Flemish lord who governed the city from 1258 to 1294. He fortified the old hilltop and made the castle his residence, and this tower likely served as its keep or donjon. The Saint-Omer line held it until 1314, when their dynasty died out and the Catalan Company took the region. The Catalans, however, demolished their own prize rather than let it fall to rivals, probably in 1331 or 1360. What remains is still imposing: the base measures 13.60 by 16.00 metres, with walls three metres thick, and it rises to thirteen metres today, though only the ground floor and part of the second survive from what was originally a three-storey structure.