Kapsalino

Perched on a rocky crag at 810 metres on the ridge of Mount Atheras, in the north-east of Ikaria, Kapsalino remains a puzzle. No record survives of when it was raised, by whom, or for what exact purpose. The fortification, a dry-stone affair in rather poor condition, crowns a rock roughly 70 by 30 metres. Within its perimeter there are no traces of buildings, shells, or surface finds, though just to the south, outside the walls, several ruined structures stand. It may be that the project was never finished. Yet the scale of the work argues against improvisation: the walls survive to 3.5 metres in height and up to 1.7 metres thick. The likeliest guess is that this was a refuge castle, built perhaps in the 16th century so that islanders could shelter from pirate raids, used only when danger threatened. But that remains speculation, and the truth is lost.