Remains of a Byzantine tower in a well-hidden spot at the edge of a stream, at the “Bolgos location, just before (approaching from the southwest) the village of Arethousa in the prefecture of Thessaloniki, at the edge of a small park where there is a church of Agios Christophoros.

History

There is no information from historical sources about this particular tower. Morphologically, it belongs to a group of monastic towers of the Late-Byzantine Period in the area, with the tower of Vrasna as a representative example.
Based on this classification, the most probable dating of the tower of Arethusa is the second half of the 14th century.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

On its eastern side, the tower is on an elevated point above a stream. On its western side it is at the edge of a field. From all sides the tower is completely hidden as it is preserved at a low height and the point is covered by bushes.

Only the east side of the tower is preserved, at a low height, with a length of less than 9 meters and a wall thickness of 1 meter. The best preserved part is its southeast corner at a height of 3.5 meters. At the point of the corner, the remains of two vertical struts with dimensions of 0.85✖1.40 (of the southern side) and 1.20✖1.40 (of the eastern side) are preserved. The construction of the tower consists of stones of different sizes, carved and uncut, with connecting mortar between them.

Nothing remains of the rest of the tower. From the few remains we conclude that in its original form the tower was massive and similar to that of the tower in Vrasna.

Sources