I dropped off the family at a pub where they could rest and relax while I took off to check out the Byzantine Castle of Kassiopi.
There are these lovely wooden stumps on the way. 
The path to the Castle is very narrow and winds up behind houses, between houses and all over houses. 
See? 
And then a rather dozy looking cat glanced at me. 
Climbing up to the Castle. I dont think they meant this route to be used much, did they? 
Thank god for the sign. 
Still climbing up, but the walls can be seen. 
Nothing much but the sea on the other side. 
The walls are now visible
I can see the harbour. 
A beautiful courtyard with iron chairs. What a great little place to rest and relax…
The entire hilltop is full of gnarled olive trees. These can be up to 3-4 hundred hears old..
See what I mean? 
These are restored walls, some of my tax take went via the British Government to the European Commission and then to this place to spruce it up. Nice to see some areas where my taxes are being used well. Here is a site which shows how they improved it. 
Strange entrance. Too low frankly. 
Within the first gateway, there is a small room and then another doorway. 
The entrance room is surrounded with tall walls. Apparently, there were series of pirate raids by the Erstwhile Turks in 1140-45. Then Emperor Manuel Comnenus I decided to fortify the entire island with a series of fortifications including this castle. His successor, Manuel Comnenus II decided to extend and improve this castle in 1267. 
Looking back outside the entrance doorway. 
I head inside and see there are two sets of stairs, left and right. 
Heading left and looking back at the entrance. 
I decide to go right and then find this little courtyard. 
That’s the room on top of the entrance wall. But back to looking at Kassiopi. Some excellent views of the little town below. 
Lovely harbour. 
A longer view over the Northern Ionian Sea with Albania in the distance. 
Across the channel. 
I head back outside the courtyard. 
And start walking next to the castle wall. 
Its old, really really old, but also with some new touches as the lamp on the path in the middle. 
You can see that the stones are heavily corroded away. 
The inside of the castle is full of olive trees
And the olive nets which have been rolled up 
Looks like this used to be a room of some kind but it has tumbled down. 
Another ruined wall with some kind of a structure, a loo? a tank? a cupboard? 
More olive nets. 
Hmmm, I wonder what kind of fruit this is? 
I have reached the corner, about 250 meters from the entrance and then turn left, following the wall. 
The walls are about 8-10 feet in width. Fairly solid. Has to be, to be able to hold off the Ottoman attacks over several centuries. 
A gate of some sort
I am now overlooking the entrance to the other bay in Kassiopi. 
I have now reached the next corner of the castle. There is this little peninsula which juts out. 
The castle wall continues on on the left. 
But this little place in the peninsula looks amazing. 
Wonderfully clear waters. 
The inclined rocks on the other side. 
The castle has houses up to nearly its edge. 
This must have been a gun port area, it has the familiar circular section. It would have had commanding views over the bay. 
Or would have been one of the guard towers. 
A final peek out and then start walking back. 
This time with the wall on my left. 
In many places, the main wall has fallen away, you can see the stones strewn all over the slope. 
The remaining walls are old, corroded away and full of mosses and lichens. 
I reach the fig tree which is just next to the entrance. 
And then cross the entrance. 
A path has been made with stones. 
A room, hmmm, its locked up. This side of the castle is shorter, about 100 meters. 
I turn right and keep on walking up. 
This side of the castle overlooks the hinterland and the village. 
With a fire extinguisher unit. Hmmm, what’s going to go up in fire here? the olive trees? 
I climb up on the wall and see the mountains where we will pop over later on in the day. 
Some repeater stations. 
I have reached the other corner of the castle. The walls are very thick indeed, about 10 feet. 
The walls continue on on the right. 
Another room was here in the corner. 
With an exit…
So I pop out. 
On the right, the path meanders out. 
A tree seems to have grown out of the walls. 
I reach the end of the path and the path turns and follows the outside of the wall. 
On the left, you can see a rather spooky olive tree wood. 
Looking back at the doorway
Standing in the corner and looking at the path which goes to the other corner where I have already been. The castle is built roughly in the form of a square, about 250-300 meters to each side. Fairly big. 
I start heading back.
Following the path. 
Frustratingly, nothing much can be seen. Maybe a room here? some roof supports on the top? 
Not many people here. 
Back down to the end
I head out of the door. 
And out of the low outer doorway. 
Beautiful Kassiopi village. 
Start walking down the path. 
Look back at the walls. 
And start down the path. Start to pass the various houses. 
Till I reach the bottom of the path and I can see the church in front. I looked back at the castle and I am afraid it was too much ruined to actually feel anything. I touched the ancient walls but I am afraid it was too eroded, they didnt speak to me, I could feel the Venetian Soldiers or the Byzantine soldiers who pounded these walls and paths and fought against the turks. Bit sad, but what the heck.
Next we go to the highest mountain in Corfu, Pantokrator.
No comments:
Post a Comment