A relatively well-preserved and beautiful Frankish castle on the border between the historical regions of Argolis and Corinth.

Location & Strategic Scope

Agionori is located on the ancient road “Kontoporeia”, which was an alternative mountain route from the Isthmus of Corinth to Argolis.

Kontoporeia is mentioned by Xenophon and by two Roman writers, Polybius and Athenaeus. The route was busy during the Roman Era, because ancient Tenea was nearby, a city that flourished after the destruction of Corinth by the Romans (146 BC). The pass continued to be used during the Byzantine Period, although Tenea no longer existed.

Kontoporeria was protected by two fortresses: Agionori and Kastraki Ampiditsa.

The castle has visual contact with many castles of in Argolos and Corinth, despite being inside a mountain passage.

History

The castle of Agionori is probably Frankish, as evident from the type of construction and its architectural style. Modern scholars believe that it was built on the site of an earlier mid-Byzantine fortification.

The first mention of the settlement is in the biography of Saint Nikon (published in 11th century) where it is called “Enorion” without any mention of a castle.
In the Chronicle of Morea it is referred to as “Agion Oros” (=Holy mountain – like the monastic community in Athos).
Again, no castle is mentioned.

The area of ​​Agionori after the 12th century followed the developments in the Corinth region. At the beginning of the 13th century it belonged to the Byzantine lord Leo Sgouros. Around 1210 it was occupied by the Franks of the Principality of Achaia and immediately afterwards it passed under the jurisdiction of the Frankish Duchy of Athens, whose lord was Othon de La Roche.
When in 1311 the Catalans abolished the Duchy, the area came directly under the Principality of Achaea. Later, in 1358, the Castellany of Corinth was given to the Florentine Niccolò Acciaiuoli who was a powerful courtier of the Kingdom of Naples. The Castellany included 8 castles, among which Agionori was NOT included. Ainori is recorded in a register of the Acciaiuoli of 1365 without, again, a castle being noted.
In 1365 Niccolò died. His possessions in Corinth ended in 1371 with his nephew Nerio Acciaiuoli.

Nerio became lord of Athens in 1385, when he defeated the Catalans and abolished the Catalan Duchy. In 1394 Nerio died and Corinth was inherited by his son-in-law Carlo Tocco, who, however, after the strong intervention of the despot of the Morea, Theodore I Palaiologos (who was also Nerio’s son-in-law), was forced in 1395 to cede Acrocorinth to the Byzantines of Mystras, in who had already taken the surrounding castles. The Byzantines held the area until 1458, when Mehmed II the Conqueror marched into Southern Greece, captured Acrocorinth and conquered the entire northern Peloponnese.

During the First Venetian-Turkish War (1462-1479), the Venetians sent an expeditionary force to the Morea and for a time Agionori was in their hands (but not Acrocorinth). The castle returned to the Turks, at the latest, with the end of the war in 1479.

The castle is not included in the 1377 list of castles of the Principality of Achaia. This means that it was built after 1377, but we cannot be 100% certain about that.

In the Venetian lists of 1467 and 1471 the castle is included under the names Altori and Alinori respectively. In both cases, it is noted that the castle is destroyed and for this reason we have some doubts about the identification with Agionori, because the castle cannot be described as destroyed even today. Perhaps repairs were made during the Turkish occupation, although this does not seem to be the case.

The information we have is not enough to determine the exact time of construction of the castle.

The most likely construction period is around 1380, at the time when Nerio Acciaiuoli ruled Corinth, before becoming Duke of Athens (he then had other priorities and other threats to deal with). One reason for the diligent Nerio to build a castle there was that the alternative route through the Kontoporeia gorge became popular again towards the end of the 14th century due to the Ottoman threat.
A less likely hypothesis is that it was completed in 1323, which is the date inscribed on the apse of the church of Agioi Anargyroi just outside the walls. It is estimated that the “twin” castle of Kiveri was built during the same period. The reason why it is not included in the 1377 list could be a mistake or the result of a a special property status, after all, Kiveri is not included either.
Finally, the least likely case is that it was built in 1415 by the Byzantines, at the same time that the Examilion wall on the Isthmus was repaired, in a last effort to defend the Peloponnese against the Turks. An additional reason was that at that time the Kontoporeia was of vital importance to the Byzantines and the only safe route from Mystras to the north.

During the Turkish occupation, the castle continued to be used, which is verified by the discovery of Turkish coins inside.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

Agionori is a small castle. It covers an area of ​​only 680 sq.m. within a perimeter of 100 m.
It is preserved in relatively good condition (even before the restoration), much better than other castles of the same era, despite being located in an earthquake-prone area.

In its original form, there was probably a large outer enclosure that protected the entire hill and the medieval settlement. However, not enough traces survive today to confirm this hypothesis.

The castle is pentagonal in shape with rectangular towers at the 5 corners.
The 3 towers on the northern side are preserved in poor condition, with the northwestern one destroyed almost completely. Of the two large southern towers, the southwestern tower stands almost at its full height, while the southeastern tower is missing a storey.

The southwestern tower served as the central tower. It is about 12m high. It had 3 storeys and is currently preserved to its full height. The ground floor, today filled in, was without openings, with a hemispherical dome-shaped roof. It served as a cistern or storage room. On the next floor, the entrance opened approximately 2.5m higher than the current level of the courtyard; in the past it was even higher. On the third floor, the floors were wooden, while the openings on all sides, 3 arched doors and 2 windows, indicate that it could have been a living space.

The third floor of the southeastern tower has collapsed. The basement was a cistern with a vaulted ceiling. It is closed without external openings. The tower has been shaped into a vaulted chapel. In this tower too, the entrance was on the floor, considerably higher than the courtyard.

The original height of the walls must have reached 10m. At no point does the wall retain its original height intact. The thickness of the walls in some places reaches 2.10 m.

The only gate was located under the middle tower on the north side. This was the most inaccessible and highest point of the hill. In front of the gate there was a small courtyard protected by a waal (propylon).

Inside the castle there are buildings adjoining the walls internally. The ruins of 2 of them can be seen on the north side. The largest is adjacent to the eastern post-tower. It is an elongated building with an underground cistern.

In the masonry of the castle, local semi-processed limestones were used in horizontal layers, lime mortar, and sporadic fragments of bricks at the joints. Porolithos and carved limestone were used for the stone frames of the openings.
All the stones except the porolithos come from the surrounding area.

On the hill, around the fortress, externally, there are ruins of the medieval settlement, including many small Byzantine churches. The ruins of at least 11 small churches are preserved, of which that of Agioi Anargyroi (dated 1323) is saved with intact fresco decoration. Old frescoes are also preserved in the renovated cemetery church of Agios Athanasios.

In the castle of Agionori, several common elements are found with other castles of the Frankish rule in the Morea, and even with other knightly castles in Europe or the Middle East. The layout is similar to that of the castle of Chloumoutsi, of which Agionori is a downsized copy.
It also has much in common with the castle of Lerna (Kiveri). These similarities are even more obvious, if the hypothesis is true that there was also a large external enclosure in Agionori that has not survived.

After 2010, extensive restoration work was carried out on the monument.

Sources