Theologos

On a steep, high hill called Agios Dimitrios, three and a half kilometres east of Theologos on Thassos, lie the scant ruins of a late Byzantine castle whose history is entirely unknown. No historical source mentions it, though it probably sheltered a settlement during the pirate raids of the Northern Aegean after the seventh century. The most plausible period of use is the thirteenth to fifteenth centuries, and the remote, inland location offered security. The perimeter wall has collapsed into a continuous hundred-metre pile of rubble, though it was originally 1.60 metres thick with binding mortar. At least two circular towers stood at the north-east and north-west corners, watching the Koinira valley and the interior around Theologos. Inside the enclosure are foundations of various buildings, including a rectangular structure of possibly later date. Beside the eastern wall are the remains of a one-room Byzantine chapel, built of flat stones and mortar, with circular sanctuary foundations touching the wall; it was probably dedicated to Saint Demetrius. The Italian traveller Ciriaco di Ancona, visiting in 1444-45, does not mention Theologos, suggesting the castle was already abandoned by then. No gate or cistern survives.