Perpeni

On a tall hill east of the village of Kalloni in Laconia stands a solitary late-Byzantine tower, almost square at seven metres to a side, and dating from the 14th or 15th century. Its history is unknown, though it was most likely raised by the Byzantines of Mystras, in the same period as the nearby castle of Zarafona, eight kilometres east. A Frankish origin, contemporary with the castle of Geraki fifteen kilometres to the southeast, cannot be entirely dismissed. The tower sits at the edge of a fortification enclosure, visible by satellite but not from the ground, which runs 125 metres in perimeter and covers nearly a thousand square metres, probably containing other buildings. The site is difficult to reach, with no road, trail, or agricultural activity in the surrounding mountains, and this isolation has kept the tower in rather good condition. Access is free.