Pyrgos Tower

Standing alone beyond the village that takes its name from it, Pyrgos Tower is a solitary Frankish relic in a landscape that has otherwise forgotten it. Built in 1415 by the local lord Giovanni Peliteo, it belonged to a territory then held by the Acciaiuoli, the Neapolitan family who ruled the Duchy of Athens from 1385 until 1458. The tower’s footprint is a square of 8.0 metres per side, and it still rises to 10.25 metres, though its present condition is not good. Its walls, a formidable 1.85 metres thick, speak to a defensive purpose that time has steadily eroded. What remains is a bare, sturdy shell, its original upper storeys and any surrounding buildings long gone. For the curious traveller, it offers a quiet, unadorned glimpse of Frankish power in the Greek countryside, more evocative in its isolation than any restored monument could be.