Remains of a medieval fortified settlement in the coastal area of ​​south-east Lemnos.

Location & Strategic Scope

The fortification is located 2.5 km north from the village of Fisini and 1 km east from the village of Agia Sophia in south-east Lemnos. It is 200m away from the coast and is located on a slightly elevated plateau – 35m from sea level.

In the past, it was near a natural and important port named “Skala”. This port no longer exists, and in its place is a small bay with shallow waters that does not offer harbor possibilities.

In modern era, the medieval settlement of Skala took the name "Agiomarnos" (from Agios Marinos). It was inhabited until the first decades of the 20th century.

Very close, at a distance of 800m to the SE are the ruins of another medieval fortification named "Fisini Towers".

This area which includes the villages of Fisini, Agia Sofia and Skandali is still called today Skala and the inhabitants Skaliotes. There were other settlements in the area that no longer exist. Apart from Agiomarnos, there were Goudilas (perhaps "Tilo" on the old maps) and Parthenomtos. In general, the barren hills around the villages of Skala are full of building ruins of past times.

History

The Italian cartographer Francesco Piacenza (1637-1687) in his work L'Egeo redivivo ("the Revived Aegean" - Modena, 1688) notes that there were 7 castles in Lemnos. One of them was the castle of Skala. We do not know if it was an important castle at the time, however today it is the best preserved castle of Lemnos after that of Myrina (of course far less photogenic).

The large area of ​​the fortification and the continuous habitation until the 20th century show that it was not a simple castle, but a settlement

Skala is mentioned for the first time in a document of 1362, when a certain Michael Gerakis donated the privately owned monastery of John Prodromos to the Koutloumousiou Monastery of Mount Athos.

Almost all the travelers and cartographers who dealt with Lemnos – and there were quite a few – note Skala as a castle town or port on the eastern shores of Lemnos.
Buondelmonti (1418) includes the castle in his map, without naming it. The Turkish admiral Piri Reis (1521) mentions only "the shallow waters known as Iskele" and marks them on his map as "Skala-siglari: shoal of Skala". It is noted as a castle by: Bordone (1528, La Schala), Rosaccio (1598, La Schala), Boschini (1658, La Stala), Piacenza (1680-85, La Scala), anonymous (1685, La Scala), Dapper ( 1688, La Scala) and Coronelli (1696, La Scala).

Uncertain identification of the Castle of Skala

Having said all this, we must note that it is not certain that the specific castle presented on this page is the castle of Scala known from historical sources. Some believe that the medieval Scala was the nearby fort “Towers of Fisini”. What is certain is that there was indeed a fortified medieval settlement in this location, in Agiomarnos, as is evident from the large and relatively strong wall that surrounds it.

Another uncertainty about the castle of Skala is whether the medieval port of Skala was actually located in this region. Apart from the fact that there is no cove suitable for mooring today, another element that raises doubts is that old maps usually show Skala much further north on the eastern side of Lemnos, where there are more inviting coves. Of course, the counter argument to the hypothesis that Skala was further north is that the toponym survives in the area of ​​Fisini and not elsewhere. And furthermore, no castle ruins have been identified in any other location on the eastern side, while in Fisini we have to choose between two fortified locations.

Taking into account all these considerations, we at Kastrologos believe that, it is most likely that the castle of Skala was indeed at this point east of Agia Sophia, in old Agiomarnos. The location in the Fisini Towers is less likely because it is a much smaller fortification, more vulnerable, rather older and does not resemble a port castle at all.
As for the date of construction of the castle of Skala, it cannot be ruled out that it actually dates from the Venetian period ( 1207-1278), but as we don't have much information we should expand the probable period and place it in the 13th-14th century.

As mentioned above, the settlement named “Agiomarnos” was inhabited until the beginning of the 20th century. Today at the highest point there is a modern chapel (on the site of an older one) dedicated to Saint Marino.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The fortified enclosure has a perimeter of approximately 420m and covers an area of ​​9,000 sq.m. The walls are preserved along almost the entire length but not to a great height (photo 3,4).
It was a relatively strong wall.
The construction technique of the wall, even though no binding mortar was used, shows that it was built during the Middle Ages. It is not ancient nor of the Turkish period. We characterize the fortification as Late-Byzantine, with the most likely date of construction in the 13th or 14th century, or perhaps a little older.

Abutting the west side of the fortification, externally at the highest point, there is an additional enclosure covering an area of ​​1500 sq.m. Inside it there are ruins of buildings, one of which was probably a church and the other probably a tower (photo 5,6). This complex seems to have been a later addition and may have been part of a monastery.

Sources