Few traces of a castle on a small hill east of the village Apolakkia in Rhodes, near the church of Agia Marina. It used to be a rectangular castle with flanking turrets.

Castle Description

General Description
Apolakkia is located in the depression south of the Akramitis Mountains, 11 km south-southeast of Monolithos and 2.5 km from the coast of the Ormos Apolakkias “on the slope of a hill, overlooking a fertile valley, which is crossed by two streams. [...] A castle from the knightly era of very massive construction dominates the village” (Berg 1862, pp. 159-160; German original text: „am Abhange eines Hügels, ein fruchtbares Thal überschauend, das von zwei Giessbächen durchströmt wird. […] Ein Schloss aus der Ritterzeit von sehr massiver Bauart beherrscht das Dorf”).
The castle, of which only very sparse remains have been preserved, stood on the hill on the eastern outskirts of the village behind the main church. The hill has been partially demolished during the last decades. A photo taken before 1917 shows the castle’s walls up to 4 m high (cf. Gerola I 1914, p. 335, Fig. 107).

The castle consisted of a longitudinal rectangular building (perhaps a tower house) with 1.75 m thick walls and rectangular corner tower, concentric enceinte and probably a barbicand on the southwest and northwest sides. From the outer enceinte with 0.75 m thick walls, foundations of the northeastern section have been preserved, flanked by two approximately square tourelles/turrets, each measuring about 3✖3 m (Spiteri 2001, p. 149).
Today most tourists no longer notice that there once stood a castle on the hill.

History of the castle
In the context of the transfer of a monastery estate to the priest Gianis Martigenis/ “Makrigeris”, “protedes” of Apolakkia, the village was mentioned in a document on 20 May 1347. In 1408 the castle was mentioned in another document; in this castle villagers should find protection in the event of an enemy attack. During the 15th century, the castle was the seat of a castellania (a castle district) of the Hospitaller Knights‘ monastic estate and designated by this Order as a refuge for the villagers of "Stridio" (Istrios), Profilia and Arnitha (Stefanidou 2002, p. 212.).
During the 20th century, large parts of the castle were demolished to use the stones for new buildings.

Other Info

Sources