Madamia

The tower at Madamia stands south of the modern village of Polydroso, close to the Xerias torrent, and survives only as a ruin. Its construction date is uncertain, though it was most likely Frankish, as that dynasty arrived in the region shortly after the fall of Constantinople in 1204 and is known to have built or repaired most of the local towers. What remains today are fragments of two walls, still rising to a height of ten metres. The structure was evidently a simple defensive tower rather than a large castle, and its condition suggests centuries of neglect and exposure to the elements. The site offers little more than these skeletal uprights, yet they speak to a period when Frankish lords dotted the Greek countryside with such strongpoints, asserting control over the landscape and its routes. For the curious traveller, it is a quiet, unmarked relic, more evocative in its isolation than in any surviving architectural detail.