Listed 2 sub titles with search on: Sights for wider area of: "KARYSTOS Town EVIA" .
KARYSTOS (Town) EVIA
This is the most remarkable medieval fortification in the whole Evia.
It dominates the whole area on a hill among the villages of Miloi,
Kalivia and Grampia.
It ws built immediately after the Frankish occupation in the 1204, to house Ravano
Dalle Carceri. A whole city was gradually built round the castle as the inhabitants
of the area were in the habit of living near the castle so as to be safe from
pirates and any other kind of invasion.
During the Middle Ages, it changed hands many times (Venetians, Franks,
Byzantium) and in the summer of 1470 it fell into the hands of the Turks. A short
time before the revolution of 1821, the Turks built walls around the town which
spread outside the castle.
During the revolution there were many bloody battles in this area.
After the liberation, the town was abandoned because the inhabitants of Karistos
sought access to the sea.
From the historic castle of Karistos we can still see the foundation,
some towers and ramparts, its remarkable domed reservoirs and the ruins of Turkish
baths.
The Romans called the castle Castelo Rosso, meaning the Red Castle
because of its red stone walls.
Its walls are high and impressive. The main gate is facing south and
is invisible from the outside. To the west of the main gate, one can find the
ruins of a one-time imposing two-storey building which was probably the dwelling
place of the Lord of the castle. To the north, east and south-west, the walls
end in square, polygonal or round ramparts.
On the northern side of the castle, there is the inner fortress, the
last defence line of the castle. Inside the fortress the church of Prophet Ilias
was built and under the church floor, the Large reservoir of the fortress is hidden.
Finally, near the church of Prophet Ilias one can find the ruins of an austere-looking
church which was probably the church of Saint John of the Franks.
This text is cited May 2003 from the Prefecture
of Evia tourist pamphlet (1997).
OCHI (Mountain) KARYSTIA
There are unique geological formations (cliffs, caves and natural
sculptures) as well as a system of tens of springs, brooks, torrents and currents
in Mount Ochi. The surface waters are more than usual for the Aegean Sea environment.
Mount Ochi can be easily called "the mountain of springs". In its higher eastern
side, there is the last "pure" forest of chestnut trees in southern Evia. The
hyper perennial chestnut trees of the chestnut scrub are the remnants of large
forests that once covered the whole mountain. Above this oasis, the tops of the
mountain dominated like natural fortresses. In these rocks, that are difficult
of access, lots of kinds of indigenous, plants and rare forest trees and bushes
grow like black fir trees. The area provides a shelter for mountain kinds of birds
that don't nest anywhere else in the southern part of Evia.
In Mount Ochi, there are unique, natural places full of flowers, where
Paionyes (a indigenous flower) and the indigenous kind of pansy of Evia grow.
It is also characterized as an "Important Birds Area" by the "Bird International".
This text is cited May 2003 from the Prefecture
of Evia tourist pamphlet (1999).
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
