Modern Description:
Also clearly visible to the left of this, and almost due north, is the valley's other castle—the extensive fortified area of the Kástro of Chora, occupying the sloping summit of a natural rock ‘acropolis'. This is accessible by a climb up from the centre of Chorió below. Chorió, or ‘Chóra', was the island's capital until the mid-19th century, founded on a site safely away from the coast and with good natural fortification, during the period of instability and piracy that followed on from the first Arab incursions of the 8th century. Today it is an unpretentious Greek town, free of any jarring tourist paraphernalia. Its narrow streets radiate out from the large central church of the Panaghia Charitoméni (‘the Gentle Virgin') of 1805. The exterior walls of the church have fragments of the same beautiful decorative frieze of jasmine-flower motif which can also be seen in and around the church of Christ of Jerusalem; the interior is dominated by an ornately carved and gilded wooden iconostasis bearing several fine 19th century icons. Streets lead eastwards from the church and uphill to the edge of the habitation, from where a steep and exposed climb on a path across the rocks brings you to the castle of Chora, or Péra Kástro (permanently open) completely encircled by a fine curtain of 15th century walls with wide crenellations, rising directly from the bare rock. Once again, the Knights of Rhodes will have strengthened pre-existing fortifications here, probably in the 15th century— although the presence of the arms of Grand Master del Carretto (1513–21), exhibited prominently on the east walls, suggests that this work may have continued into the next century. The walls rarely exceed a metre in thickness, and the gate here is not built with particular attention to indestructibility: the Kastro was designed first and foremost as a functioning walled city, rather than as a last refuge against siege. Near the entrance inside, you immediately encounter ancient spolia and fragments of marble entablature on the ground with, nearby, a massive millstone; other ancient pieces (fluted columns and capitals, etc.) are incorporated into the nine small churches on the site which constitute its greatest interest. To the east side, the double-church of the Dormition, attached to the church of Aghios Nikolaos, represents an unusual grouping of forms, including here a short narthex on the south side. To the west, the churches of the Tímios Stavrós, of Aghia Paraskeví, and of the Metamorphosis, have wall-paintings of the 16th century and incorporate Ancient and Early Christian spolia in their fabric. At the top of the enclosure is the greatest concentration of stone houses that have preserved their walls to a reasonable height, most built over deep water-cisterns. The few larger public buildings are all of a functional, four-square, military design; one of them preserves a conspicuous escutcheon, with a Frankish coat of arms, on its south wall.
Wikidata ID: Q15633758Trismegistos Geo: 57957DARE: 34329
Info: McGilchrist's Greek Islands 
(From McGilchrist’s Greek Islands, © Nigel McGilchrist 2010, excerpted with his gracious permission. Click for the books)
