Sidirokastro in Achaea

Sidirokastro, known in the medieval records as Castel de Ferro, is now little more than a memory etched into a steep rock on the western slopes of Mount Panachaikon, facing the monastery of Omblou. The Frankish castle, probably raised in the thirteenth century, guarded the pass from Patra to Kalavryta, a route in use since Mycenaean times until the modern road arrived in 1886. Its name, meaning Iron Castle, may derive from the iron-rich, reddish rocks that give the hill its alternative title, Kokino Vouno, or from an iron gate later reused at the monastery. The site guarded the eastern edge of the territory of Zoitada, between the villages of Krini and Kallithea. By 1364 it belonged to the Bishop of Patras, who held the barony, and it appears in documents of 1408, 1463, 1471 and 1476. Today the castle is almost entirely destroyed, though two metal guns were found immured in its ruined walls.