Ruins of a most probably Byzantine castle, re-used by the Hospitaller Knights.

Castle Description

General Description
The Kastro Faneromeni is located on a rocky spur southeast of the bay of Livadia, which, however, appears much less exposed than the locations of the castles Kastro Agriosykia (cf. Kastrologos) and Kastro tou Lambrou (cf. ibid.) on Tilos. The small spur jumps out to the west-northwest from a terrace of the mountain massif running from northeast to southwest with the peaks of Agios Nikolaos (367 m) and Masticha or Mastichies, which borders the bay and the coastal plain of Livadia to the southeast.

Due to its small size and poor state of preservation, the castle is hardly visible from Livadia. Its existence is known only to a few locals, especially since the farm terraces surrounding the castle have not been used for decades.
The heavy destruction of the castle will have been caused by stone robbery: near the Kastro lies a scattered settlement that has been abandoned for a long time, and the castle hill is surrounded by arable terraces, for the construction of which large amounts of stone material were needed.

Access
The castle can be reached via a footpath from Livadia, not far from Marina Beach Hotel; in the upper part it is a Monopati. – The castle’s interior is covered by wall collapse, a visit is not without danger, especially since “inexperienced people” have piled up unstable "pyramids" and "pylons" from the fall material, which additionally endanger visitors and further destroy the monument!

History of the castle
In the bibliography, the castle has so far hardly been noticed (cf. Losse 2004). Gerola (1916, p. 19) mentions "Rukùni" ("or Faneromèni") under "altri fortilizi" without any further explanations. Koutelakis (p. 13) lists the castle "St. Stephan or Roukuni to the left of Livadia" in his list of the oldest Byzantine castles on Tilos, but St. Stephen is actually the name of the castle above Megalo Chorio. Gerola (1916, p. 14) points out that the castle of S. Stefano is identical to that of Megalo Chorio (cf. Dawkins/Wace 1905/06, p. 159). There is a need for clarification here.
Dates on the origin and history of the Kastro are not known. Its common name Faneromeni Castle (= "[Church of] Revelation") may have been popularly transferred from the partly ruinous church immediately below the castle’s enceinte. Whether this is in a historical context with the castle is not known.

The time of origin of the chapel, a barrel-vaulted church with an apse, could not be found out. The church is largely dilapidated; the west façade is largely absent, and parts of the barrel vault have collapsed.
Like the Kastro Agriosykia, Faneromeni Castle is not presented with a moat; here and there, the very rocky apron interspersed with boulders prevented a rapid rapprochement of enemy troops. The castle rock consists of very brittle rock, of limestone slabs with enclosed quartz layers.

The section of the irregular, tongue-shaped enceinte facing the slope side in the southeast consists of small-format quarry stone masonry made of local lime, in which sporadic bricks can be seen. Whether the mortar remains belong to the medieval building stock (parts of the castle were probably later built over with farmhouses) is unclear. The originally probably 1.10 to 1.30 m thick wall section was apparently subsequently reinforced by rear walling to about 2.06 to 2.20 m. This reinforcement of the wall may have stood in the context of the addition of a work jumping out in front of the wall, serving as a flanking defense, which is visible in small remains under wall collapse. Perhaps it was added in the Knights Hospitallers‘ period (late 15th century?).

Remarkable is the rounded wall guidance at the enceinte’s corners facing the saddle to the castle’s “attack side”. Such rounded wall tours can be found at Byzantine castles as well as at Western and Central European castles of the 14th century and occasionally in the early 15th century.

The exact ground plan shape cannot be determined over long distances without the clearing of the rubble and the fall. The same applies to the castle’s interior development. It seems as if the interior of the Kastro, similar to other castles on Tilos (cf. Kastro tou Lambrou; Mesaria) was settled in modern times and built over with farmhouses in dry masonry. Due to the debris masses, structures or foundations of the medieval building fabric are not visible.

Presumably, the location of the castle was already used in ancient times. Around the ruin I found during my first ascent on 17.10.2002 small remains of ancient ceramics, including amphora tips.

According to current estimates, the Kastro Faneromeni will have been built in Byzantine times and strengthened during the period of the Knights Hospitallers‘ reign. The Muslim raids on the island in the 15th century speak for the expansion of the castles on Tilos by the Knights of St. John. In 1444, the Knights Guido di Domaigne and Ettore d'Alemagna came to Tilos to take measures to re-fortify or strengthen castles (Hasluck 1910-11, p. 166). In 1457, Turks devastated Tilos; they felled trees and robbed cattle after failing to capture a castle (Koutelakis, p. 14). Residents of Tilos were evacuated to Rhodes (Kollias 1988, p. 16), "because defence proved weak and food was insufficient" (Koutelakis, p. 14). In 1485 the island is said to have been attacked again (Kollias 1990, p. 203), and in 1505 the corsair Camali made an attempt to conquer Tílos (Dawkins/Wace 1905/06, p. 165, note 4).

Other Info

Sources