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Modern Description: The finest archaeological remains in this sector of the island are the ruins of the *Hellenistic fortress of Kastrí— the brilliant and almost invisible fortification of a cleft in the mountainside, which commands some of the most stunning views in the area. The site is well-camouflaged, and nestles about half-way below the summit of the rock face to the north of the last sharp bend in the road before the settlement of Emboreió begins. From the house and goat-pens just above the road, a path—vestigially marked with red spots—leads directly up the mountain, first to the right of the torrent-course, and then to the left, until the roughly rectangular hewn blocks of the construction come into view below the rock face. The ascent is steep, rocky and takes the full sun. The site consists of a curtain wall in polygonal masonry which links two small rectangular towers (c. 3.5m. square) on rocky spurs to either side, and seals off a natural cleft in the rock face: below are rock-cut steps and a doorway hewn through the rock, with the fixtures for the gate cut into its surface. This leads steeply up to the east side and onto a rock ledge, where there is a plastered cistern, again carved from the living rock. Beyond it lies a neatly carved olivepress stone, with clear-cut channels for the outflow of the oil. (Further to the west of Kastrí, below the ridge, are the remains of what appears to be an ancient olive-press installation.) To this day, the site feels very safe: it must always have been an impregnable refuge which dominated the land and water routes, and the islet of Kalavrós below.
The fortress at Kastrí would have protected, and served as an acropolis for, the ancient settlement of Emboreió, which, though a sleepy, end-of-the-road village today, must once have been a flourishing centre, if its ancient name ‘Empórion' (‘trading station') is anything to go by. Systematic excavation has not been undertaken here, but there are ancient blocks incorporated into walls of buildings and fields in this area, and the ground is richly scattered with potsherds in places. The church of Aghios Giorgios is built on the ruins of an Early Christian predecessor; and the few remains of Late Roman thermae can be seen by the shore at the east end of the bay.

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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