The Acrocorinth is a huge rock that dominates the plain of Corinth. Ancient Corinth was built at its foot. The rock, due to its location and morphology, was used since ancient times as a castle (acropolis).

Although the final form of the castle is due to reconstructions and additions during Frankish, Turkish, and Venetian rule, most of the fortification work was carried out during the Middle Byzantine period.

Location & Strategic Scope

The castle is spread out on an imposing rocky hill, the highest peak of which is 574 meters.
It is located in a strategic position as it controls the movement from the Isthmus to the interior and the northern coasts of the Peloponnese. It also has an excellent view. From Acrocorinth one could control the Corinthian Gulf to the north, the Argolic Gulf to the east, and the Peloponnese hinterland to the west and south, through a network of towers and forts that reached as far as Arcadia.

History

According to Greek mythology, the god Helios was the lord of the region. Helios granted Ephyra, below Acrocorinth (where Corinth was later built), to his son Aeetes, but he gave Acrocorinth to the goddess Aphrodite. In honor of the goddess, Medea (who had taken refuge there with Jason) built a temple on the top of Acrocorinth.
The rock was upgraded when water was found there. This was an achievement of the king of Corinth, Sisyphus, who told Asopos that Zeus had kidnapped his daughter Aegina. In return, Asopos (who was a river) brought one of its springs to Acrocorinth, thus solving the problem of water supply! The fountain that emerged in this way was called Peirini.

Acrocorinth was first fortified by the tyrant Periander or his father Cypselus in the 7th-6th century BC and gradually developed into an Acropolis. The Macedonians in the 4th century BC repaired and strengthened the walls. In 146 BC, the Roman general Leucius Mommius Achaeus destroyed Corinth and its acropolis when he conquered Greece. Julius Caesar repaired the acropolis in 44 BC.

Another repair was made in the 6th century under Justinian and some additions are observed until the 12th century.

During the Byzantine Period, Acrocorinth was the citadel that protected the important Byzantine city of Corinth, which became the capital of the Thema of Greece (687-694) and later of the Thema of the Peloponnese (786-788).
However, as external threats from barbarians and pirates increased, Acrocorinth acquired great strategic value and gradually evolved into the administrative center of the region, replacing Corinth. In Middle Byzantine sources, the city of Corinth is referred to as "Emporion" or "Chora" to distinguish it from the city that had developed on Acrocorinth, the so-called "Kastron".

During the Late Byzantine Period, the castle underwent many changes. After the Fall of 1204, the independent ruler of Argolis, Leon Sgouros, captured Acrocorinth. After 1205, he was besieged there by the Franks. Sgouros resisted bravely, but lost his courage and committed suicide in 1208 by falling from the rock of Acrocorinth with his horse.
After that, the defenders were led by a certain Theodoros, a representative of the Despot of Epirus, Michael I Komnenos Doukas.
The castle was finally surrendered to the Franks due to lack of supplies in 1209 or 1210. The prince of Achaea, Geoffrey of Villehardouin, ceded Acrocorinth in 1212, along with all of Corinth and the Argolis, to the Burgundian lord of Athens and his ally Othon de La Roche. Thus, for the next 100 years, Acrocorinth was part of the Duchy of Athens.
During this period, the Franks made several repairs and modifications. The most visible intervention was the construction (or reconstruction) of the large Frankish tower on the southwestern peak of the rock (photo 3) which became the keep of the castle.

When in 1311 the Catalans abolished the Duchy, Corinth was directly subordinated to the Principality of Achaea. Later, in 1358, the Castellany of Corinth was given to the Florentine Niccolò Acciaiuoli who was Gran Senescallo of the Kingdom of Naples and former governor of the Principality of Achaea. The Castellany included 8 castles. Acrocorinth was the capital of the castellany and by far the most important castle.
The taking over of the castellany by the representatives of the powerful and very wealthy Acciaiuoli was a good development, because Acrocorinth was in a phase of decline due to prolonged misrule in the Principality of Achaia and due to many external threats (from Catalans, Byzantines, Turks, pirates, etc.).

In 1365, Nicolo died. His possessions in Corinth ended in 1371 with his nephew Nerio Acciaiuoli.

Nerio, based in Acrocorinth, became the most important Frankish ruler in Greece at the end of the 14th century. He attacked the Catalans, defeated them, and in 1385 became lord of Athens, abolishing the Catalan Duchy. In 1394, Nerio died and Corinth was inherited by his son-in-law Carlo Tocco, who, however, after the dynamic intervention of the despot of the Morea Theodoros I Palaiologos (who was also Nerio’s son-in-law), was forced in 1395 to cede Acrocorinth to the Byzantines of Mystras.
The capture of the castle was celebrated by all Greeks. However, Theodore already had serious problems with the Turks and, not expecting any help from Constantinople, in 1400 he sold Acrocorinth to the Knights of St. John of Rhodes (later the agreement included Kalavryta and Mystras itself). The Despot made this move not only for economic reasons but mainly because the Knights had significant military power and he was expecting that they could help in stopping the Turks.
In 1404, the Knights Hospitaller, who were never accepted by the locals and had not reaped the expected benefits, returned the castle to the Byzantines for 46,500 gold coins plus Zitouni and Salona (they did not establish themselves there either).
In the following period, Acrocorinth remained in Byzantine hands despite the Turkish raids on the Peloponnese.

In 1458, Mehmed II the Conqueror besieged the castle during his first campaign in the Peloponnese. The defenders were led by Matthaios Palaiologos Asanis. Finally, after a 4-month siege, Acrocorinth surrendered and a Turkish commander was appointed to the castle.

In 1657, at the beginning of the Second Venetian Rule in Moreas, the castle was captured by the Venetians, who in the following years repaired the walls and gave them their final form. In 1715, the Turks returned and captured it after a short siege.
During the Second Period of the Ottoman Rule, the castle area continued to be densely populated. The area between the intermediate and inner enclosures was for the residence of Christian populations, while the area within the inner enclosure where Ottomans lived.
The castle remained in Turkish hands until 1827, when it was handed over to the Greeks.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The fortress covers an area of ​​250,000 sq.m. within an external perimeter of 2600 meters. However, there are also internal fortifications on the hill, as a result of which the total length of the walls of Acrocorinth exceeds 3 kilometers!

The Byzantine fortification followed the layout of the ancient walls on the edge of the rock and incorporated parts of them that are visible to this day.

On the western, more vulnerable side of the hill, from where the entrance to the castle, an external wall was added. On this part of the hill, the internal wall was formed in a semicircular shape with two strong towers at the ends, according to the ancient design, and in between six towers, two smaller and four stronger. The two central ones protected the imposing gate of the inner wall.
Independent strong towers also existed within the castle, on the southwestern and northeastern peaks of the hill

Phases of repair and completion of the walls were also carried out by the Frankish conquerors after the capture of the city in 1210, such as the reconstruction from the foundations of the tower on the southwestern peak. In the first half of the 15th century, the first phase of another fortification line that was added to the western slope of the hill should also be attributed. With this new addition, the outer Byzantine enclosure was transformed into an internal fortification line.

During the post-Byzantine era, during the Ottoman occupation, repairs were carried out in parts of the castle, aimed at modernizing the fortifications in accordance with the new military technology of firearms. These interventions are observed in various parts of the castle, such as the reinforcement of the thickness of the fortifications, the addition of cannon ports and rifle holes in the walls and the modification of the roofs of the towers into artillery platforms in the inner wall.

In addition to the fortifications, inside the castle we find ruins of the ancient temple of Aphrodite (at the highest peak), the ancient fountain, a Byzantine underground cistern, many churches, ruins of mosques, etc.

Sources