Tower of Maro

The Tower of Maro stands in a sorry state among the fields of Dafni, a small village in central Macedonia, its ruins speaking of a remarkable resident. Built in the 15th century, this late-Byzantine tower takes its name from kyra-Maro, a princess of Greek-Serb lineage born in 1418. At seventeen she married the Ottoman sultan Murad II, and later became foster mother to Mehmed II the Conqueror, wielding considerable influence in religious and political matters of her day. In her later years she withdrew to this Orthodox Christian corner of Visaltia, where the sultan had granted her a large estate, and lived out her days in the tower. Upon her death, her considerable fortune passed to the monasteries of Mount Athos. What remains today is in rather poor condition, a crumbling relic of a woman who moved between two worlds.