Kastrologos

Castles of Greece
 

Spartia, Erymanthos, Achaea,West Greece

Castle of Greveno

  
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Location:
On the hill overlooking the village Spartia in Achaea
Region > Prefecture: Greek Map
West Greece
Achaea
Municipality > Town:
City of Erymanthos
• Spartia
Altitude:
Elevation ≈ 750 m 
(Relative Height≈40 m)
Time of Construction   Origin
Unknown  
BYZANTINE
Hon 
Castle Type   Condition
Castle Ruins  
In Ruins
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Remains of a fortified settlement on the hill above the village Spartia of Achaea, the old name of which was Greveno. The fortification is identified with the medieval castle of Greveno.

Greveno is mentioned in the Venetian lists of castles (Annali Veneti): as Graveno or Guevano in the list of 1463, Guevano στη in 1467 και again Greveno in the list of 1471.

It is not known exactly when it was built. It could have appeared for the first time in the Frankish period, but perhaps it existed long before that.

It is mentioned for the first time by ecclesiastic sources when the Orthodox bishop of Patras conspired with the Latin ruler Petro de San Superano to overthrow Fragkopoulos, the Byzantine commander of Greveno, in favor of a certain Sarakinopoulos.

In 1460, the defenders of Greveno repelled the Ottoman attack. They surrendered later that year. Nevertheless, one third of the population was taken to be sold as slaves. In 1466 Greveno was captured briefly by a Venetian force (during the 1st Venetian-Turkish war) but the Ottomans managed to reorganize quickly and get it back.

The castle is in ruins. Only a small fragment of the wall remains on the hill measuring 1m high and 3m long. There are piles of stones at the eastern side of the hill which must have been the remains of the old settlement.


First entry in Kastrologos:    October 2019

Sources

  • Photographs and info by Sakis Amfitreidis and his blog ΑΜΦΙΤΡΕΙΔΗΣ
  • Website visit Erymanthos - Σπαρτιά
  • Antoine Bon, 1969, La Morée franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d'Achaïe (1205-1430), Editions de Boccard, pp.343, 469
  • Ιωάννης Θ. Σφηκόπουλος, Τα µεσαιωνικά κάστρα του Μορηά , Αθήνα,1987
  • Konstantinos Kourelis, “MONUMENTS OF RURAL ARCHAEOLOGY MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS ΙΝ ΤΗΕ NORTHWESTERN PELOPONNESE”, Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2003, pp. 275
  • Κώστας Ν. Τριανταφύλλου, Ιστορικόν Λεξικόν των Πατρών, Πάτραι 1959, pp. 130.
  • Konstantinos Kourelis, “MONUMENTS OF RURAL ARCHAEOLOGY MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENTS ΙΝ ΤΗΕ NORTHWESTERN PELOPONNESE”, Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2003, pag. 378