Castro Kapsali Cythaera

Department Archive
Collection Byzantine Research Fund
Reference No. BRF/02/01/16/015
Level Item
Place Kythera Island
Precise Location Castro Chora
Dates 1909?
Further information The castle of Kythira town (Chora) was built in 1503 by the Venetians on the natural rock above the city-port (Kapsali). It was founded on the ruins of a thirteenth-century Byzantine fortress, and the lion of St Mark, emblem of the Venetian state, decorated the front gate. The castle, which consisted of various auxiliary buildings, was inhabited at least as early as the Venetian period and until recently (the middle of the 20th c.). The church of Panagia Myrtidiotessa, protector of the island, is located inside it.