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Modern Description: The tiny but fertile island of Pyrgousa, almost six nautical miles to the west of Nisyros, deserves mention because of its two ancient sighting towers constructed in a dark red, volcanic dacite stone, in the same style and period as the ancient acropolis walls on Nisyros. Of the two towers on the island, the one situated near the centre of the island is square; the other, standing to a height of ten courses of masonry on higher land to the north, is more complex—rectangular in shape and consisting of several rooms, possibly because it combined the functions both of a look-out garrison station and as a store for agricultural produce. It is the island's strategic position in an important signalling chain, combined with its greater fertility than its other small neighbours that explains the presence of such substantial 4th century BC buildings on so small an islet.
Wikidata ID: Q2070751

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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