Medieval Samothraki: the castle of Chora and the Gattilusi towers
How Samothraki defended itself against pirates: Chora hidden from the sea, its castle, and the towers the Genoese Gattilusi family built at Palaiopolis and Fonias in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Long before tourists, the danger on Samothraki came from the sea. In the Middle Ages pirates raided the Aegean islands, and Samothraki answered with stone: a village hidden from the sea, a castle above it, and watchtowers along the coast. Most of what stands today was built or rebuilt by the Gattilusi, a Genoese family who ruled islands of the northern Aegean in the 14th and 15th centuries, before the Ottomans took Samothraki in 1457. You can see all of it in a day.
The castle in Chora
Chora, the old capital, was built on the mountainside out of sight of the sea, and the castle crowns the rock above it. The Gattilusi enlarged and strengthened it, and inscribed plaques set in its walls still carry the name of Palamede Gattilusio and the family’s eagle beside the double-headed eagle of the Byzantine Palaiologos emperors. Walk up through the village lanes for the view over the roofs to the sea, then stop at Café O Pyrgos, opposite the entrance.
The towers of Palaiopolis
On a rock by the ancient harbour at Palaiopolis, the Gattilusi built a fort of three towers, using stone taken from the ancient buildings around them. One of the three still stands almost whole: the Gattilusi tower, above the Sanctuary of the Great Gods, where the Winged Victory was found in 1863. Visit both together: the sanctuary shows the island’s ancient life, the tower what came a thousand years later.
The Fonias tower
On the north-east coast, the Fonias tower stands at the mouth of the Fonias river, where it guarded the beach and the crossing. Built in the 15th century, it is the start of the walk up the Fonias gorge to the waterfalls, and Fonias beach below it is the swim afterwards.
Good to know
- The castle and the towers are ruins: take care on the uneven stone and near the edges.
- Chora, Palaiopolis and Fonias lie on one route from the port: Chora first, then east along the north coast. See our story on the villages in two drives.
- Late afternoon light is the best for photos at the Palaiopolis tower.
