Sidirokafsia

The tower at Sidirokafsia is the most visible survivor of a fortified settlement that once thrived on silver and lead production. Known officially as the Medieval fortified complex of Sidirokafsia, the site was historically called the Castle of Isvoro, after the Slavic name of a nearby village. The name Sidirokafsia itself appears in Byzantine records as early as the 9th century, but the settlement’s real prosperity came in the 15th century, during the first phase of Ottoman rule, when mining and metalwork brought considerable wealth. The tower was likely raised then, or at the latest in the early 16th century. It now stands in ruins, though its sturdy form still reads clearly against the landscape. Close by, the tower of Madem Aga, another Ottoman remnant, survives in similar condition. The site is freely accessible, and what remains is enough to suggest the scale of an industrial settlement that was as much about ore as about defence.