Fortress of Petropigi

The Fortress of Petropigi stands about twenty kilometres east of Kavala, a small late-Byzantine staging post on the Via Egnatia. Its ancient name is unknown, and it takes its present title from the neighbouring village. Excavated by the Norwegian Institute at Athens between 1993 and 2002, the fortress sits just nine metres above sea level on a plain that once met the shoreline more closely than it does today. Radiocarbon dating of wooden scaffolding retrieved from the mortar suggests construction between 1275 and 1350, probably soon after the Byzantine recapture of Constantinople in 1261.

The inner measurements, 29.6 by 29.3 metres, correspond neatly to 100 by 100 Roman feet. Walls of mortar, stone and brick enclose a courtyard divided by a long building, its cloisonné masonry hinting at early Ottoman work. Originally two gates and two towers, the fortress gained a portcullis and extra corner tower during the turbulent fourteenth century. In the early fifteenth century the Ottomans converted it into a kervansaray, serving travellers until the sixteenth century, after which it was systematically dismantled for materials. Later it became a herdsmen's shelter, evidenced by a Turkish pipe fragment and sheep bones found in the south-west tower.

Heritage data from Wikidata, compiled and verified in the Atika atlas.