The Section near the Citadel

Atop the highest point of the rock stands the impressive ruin of the citadel, known today as "Anekteron" (castle), and also as "to kefalari tis pyritidhapothikis" (tower of the gunpowder magazine). We can reach the citadel within the fortress if we walk along a small rocky beaten path that begins either at the Hagia Sophia or at the large cisterns, and passes through plants of thyme, oregano, and various other withered underbrush.

The base walls of the citadel date from the Byzantine period, from the first phase of settlement. During the following periods the walls were always rebuilt, if artillery attacks from the mainland damaged them. The ground plan of the citadel is easy to recognize; it is a walled rectangle with towers at three corners. A long wall connects the fourth corner to another round tower that lies on the nothern edge of the precipice.

We enter the area of the citadel near the basin of a fountain that is set in the exterior wall. Within the courtyard we can see the remains of interior walls. Outside of the walls we find a relatively well preserved tower like building, which served for a long time as a sheepfold. (This has been the fate of many historical buildings in the area.) Beautiful stonework decorates its corners and its door frame.

This fortification divides the rock into yet another section for the sake of creating a fall back position, in case the enemy should get as far as the plateau. Some historians report that the citadel was also used as a state prison.
From the citadel we have a splendid view across the causeway toward Yephira and the mountains near Monemvasia, across the bay towards Epidauros Limera, and across the bay to the south with the Lyra mountains, Cape Kamili, and Cape Malea in the background. On a clear day we can supposedly even see Crete.

Engraving from a Drawing by Lanza in Wyse (1858)