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Modern Description: ‘Kastello' is the name given to the rocky spine just inland of the Irini Hotel; it is best approached from beside the Tilos Mare Hotel, from where the few ancient fortification remains can clearly be seen to the southeast at points near the summit. Early Bronze Age potsherds collected here point to habitation on this ridge in prehistoric times. Access is difficult because of the sharp and irregular boulders which scatter the area. The neat, rectangular masonry of the foundations of the northwest corner of the 5th century BC bastion is well-preserved and clearly visible; further down the ridge there is only vestigial evidence of what must have been a protective garrison fort and a round tower – no more than an outpost of the main ancient settlement inland, but which nonetheless surveyed one of the main approaches to the island. Further east, 80m inland from a point approximately half way along the arc of Livadia Bay is the church of Aghii Panteleimon and Polykarpos – a low building standing on the site of a 5th century Early Christian basilica, which occupied a much larger area. In front of the west end of the existing church, a small area of 5th century mosaic with abstract design can be seen, and some carved fragments from the basilica's marble elements have been collected together in the forecourt.
Wikidata ID: Q21556408
Trismegistos Geo: 58685

Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands

(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)

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