In the village of Arma (formerly Dritsa) in Boeotia , on the top of a hill to the northwest of the village and on the site of an ancient city, a ruined ancient castle is located. At the top of the hill are also the remains of a newer tower, probably from the Frankish period.

History

The construction style of the tower indicates that it is not ancient. It was most likely built during the Frankish period, in the 13th century or a little later.

The remaining ruins on the hill belong to the acropolis of the ancient city of Eleon.

The archaeological research shows that the main phase of habitation and use of the area dates back to the Mycenaean period (16th-13th BC), as significant remains were discovered from the phases of the Late Bronze Age, which we call Late Helladic III B and III C (late 13th century BC).
In addition, it seems that there was a later phase of habitation and fortification of the area during the classical period (6th-5th century BC).

In the location of the present-day village of Arma, there was a village that was first recorded in an Ottoman register of 1466 under the name Andritsa. Apparently, this name was preserved slightly transformed into Dritsa.

Initially, the acropolis on the hill was mistakenly identified with the ancient city of Arma and for this reason when the village was renamed in 1955 it was renamed from Dritsa to Arma. The ancient acropolis of Arma, however, is located a little further west. Thus we have the following oxymoron: today's Arma is located next to ancient Eleon and the neighboring modern village of Eleonas (old name Spahides) is located closer to ancient Arma.

It should be noted that both the ancient Arma and the ancient Eleon are mentioned in the Iliad, in the Catalogue of Ships (i.e. in the list of ships by city that took part in the campaign against Troy).

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The dimensions of the tower are 9.30x9.31m. The thickness of the walls is 1.95m.

The maximum height is 3.48m.

Sources