Patras Castle

The Patras Castle occupies a low spur of Mount Panachaiko, some 800 metres from the sea, on the site of the ancient acropolis. It was raised in the mid-sixth century by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, following the great earthquake of 551, and its builders reused stone from older, pre-Christian structures. The fortification encloses 22,725 square metres within a triangular outer wall, reinforced with towers and originally girded by a moat, while a separate inner compound rises at the northeastern corner, also moated. The castle never fell in Byzantine times, despite sieges by Slavs, Saracens and Normans; the repulse of a major Arab and Slav attack in 805 was credited to Saint Andrew. After the Fourth Crusade, the Franks took it in 1205 and deepened the moat on three sides. It passed through the hands of the Latin Archbishop of Patras, was leased to Venice in 1408, and was captured in 1430 by Constantine Palaiologos, who repaired the walls. The Ottomans held it from 1458, the Venetians from 1687 to 1715, and Greek rebels could not storm it during the War of Independence; only in 1828 did a French expedition under General Maison secure its surrender. The army used it until after World War II, and in 1973 it passed to the archaeological service. A curious relic of the ancient world survives in local lore: a Roman marble torso and head, built into the walls, known as Patrinella, a maiden said to guard the city from plague and to weep at the death of prominent citizens.

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