At the southwestern and highest end of the village of Emprosneros in the prefecture of Chania and in a position that overlooks much of the northern coast and the lowland, to the foothills of the “Lefka Ori” Mountains, is the so-called Alidakis tower.
The complex is characterized as a “tower”, as the main building (and older part of the complex in the NW corner) has fortifications and other morphological features, which are found in defensive towers.

History

In Kastrologos, we are not interested in the whole building complex, but only the part of the NW corner (right in photos 1 and 2, the one that does not have a tiled roof). This part is Venetian. That is, it was built by a local (unknown) landlord, when Crete was part of the Serenissima Republic of Venice. This may have happened in the 15th or 16th century.
Later, during the Turkish occupation, additions and modifications were made. After the Alidakis events of 1774, a large part of the complex was destroyed. A picture of 1837 (see above) shows the tower half-destroyed without the later additions.

The best known owner of the tower was Alidakis, a Turkish agha born around 1720. The agha was very oppressive and in 1774 was besieged in the tower by rebels from Sfakia and was killed.

The addition next to the main tower with the tiled roof was built after 1900. The tower was abandoned by his owner in 1900 and was briefly used as a police station after 1945.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

Sources