Milos – Adamas, Plaka and environs – Kastro

Kastro

Overlooking Plaka itself from above on the north side are the remains of the Venetian Kastro, originally built in the 13th century and subsequently enlarged and modified in the 16th century; its constructions incorporate ancient masonry, suggesting that the summit functioned as a supplementary fortress in addition to the acropolis of the ancient city, which occupied the ridge below Trypiti­. From below, the walls of outer buildings can be seen half way up the hill, with the main enceinte above encircling the summit. The path up from Plaka passes a number of scattered churches and houses, old and recent; a number of the older abandoned houses still conserve carved door frames in local perlite stone, while the churches re-use ancient fragments as lintel blocks. The largest church of the group is the domed Panaghia Thalassira, protectress of mariners, a mid-16th century church which was restored in the 17th century when the carved door-frame with vine motif was put in. Above the arch of the door (whose soft stone has been visibly eroded by the friction of the bell-ropes) other marble elements, carved with vines and a lozenge depicting two Archangels—probably a survival from a demolished church in the Kastro—have been immured. At the summit, part of the platform of the original church, destroyed during the Second World War, is visible to the south of the new church. Both here and on the terrace of the Thalassitra, are a number of antique spolia. The * view from the summit marvellously encompasses the whole of the island’s deep, central bay, the north coast and the mountainous west of the island.