North of Iria, a village in Argolis, and close to the road from Nafplion to Tracheia there are the ruins of a medieval settlement and next to it two churches, St.Nicholas and St.George and this tower.

Only one wall remains today from the tower (the south, parallel to the road) without other fortification elements.

History

In the issue 21/B1-1966 of the Archaeological Bulletin, the building is described as an “old monastery tower” (Charitonidis).
In a photo of the same issue, the tower appears to be in much better condition in 1966 (photo 8).

The tower, if it really belonged to an old monastery of which Agios Nikolaos was also a part, was probably built at the end of the 14th century, as Agios Nikolaos also dates from that time. Specifically, according to a road sign (photo 4), the medieval village and the church date back to 1381.

Agios Nikolaos has later frescoes dating back to 1712. These frescoes are almost covered by newer coatings. This shows that the monastery was renovated at that time - the beginning of the 18th century. It is possible that the tower was also built or reconstructed then.

However, based on the original dating of Agios Nikolaos, as well as the construction style, we will characterize the tower as Late Byzantine of the 14th century, although it icould be Venetian given that the Venetians occupied the area from 1394 to 1540.

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