Patras Castle

The Castle of Patras consists of a wide outer enclosure with towers and bastions, surrounded on three sides by a deep moat.

In the northeast corner, where a natural embankment rises, there is a second (inner) enclosure with strong towers that is also protected by a moat.

Making a separation of the construction phases of the walls and towers of the Castle, in the older period, the Byzantine, the lower parts of the north wall are attributed, which present strong masonry made of large poros and marble, parts of the wall next to the seven-sided front , a large part of the inner court tower, where there is abundant use of ancient material, as well as part of the south wall.

These data show that the basic plan of the Castle is the original Byzantine, which succeeded the ancient citadel and was built largely from its ruins.

Additions of the Franks of the 13th and 14th centuries belong to a large part of the east and south side of the walls, while the Venetians and in the period 1408-1413 are attributed the circular bastion of the west side that dominates the city and part of the inner courtyard.

A small rectangular tower on the south side dates to the Palaeologan period, using ancient material on the main façade and continuous horizontal layers of plinths on the slopes, as well as part of the western precinct with eight high relief arches on the inner side, morphologically related to the Mystras.

Turkish end projects are the configuration of the vaulted entrance, which is protected by a rectangular tower, the configuration of the bastions to receive firearms, the seven-sided large tower of the southeast corner, which shows elaborate construction of large Byzantine artifacts. , distinguished by the sloppiness of construction, and almost all ramparts.

The interior of the Castle is presented today flattened and planted with trees, without visible traces of buildings that once existed (temples, mosques, barracks, etc.).

However, no systematic excavation has been carried out to date to reveal traces of the site's long history dating back to ancient times.