Scattered remains of a medieval village on a low hill 1.5 km NE of the village Achladochori of Messinia (old name Chaϊkali).

It is almost certain that the ruins are identified with the village Cosmina or Kosmena which was around there in the Frankish and the Venetian period.

History

There are plenty of references to Cosmina (or Kosmaina) from medieval sources, like Venetian, Byzantine and Frankish documents and maps. This unusual availability of information about a village, apparently, has to do with the fact that Cosmina was in a disputed area at the borders of the Frankish (of Principality of Achaea), Venetian (of Modon) and Byzantine (of the despotate of Mystras) dominions. Moreover, it must have been a large and rich fief.

Cosmina is often referred to as a castle. It does not seem to have been a powerful fortress however. Today we see only the ruins of a small tower at the top. Perhaps the settlement had some other fortification as well, but it is not visible today.

Around the middle of the 14th century the fief belonged to Nicolo Acciaiuoli who was a powerful figure of the period (Gran Seniscalco of the Principality of Achaea) with many properties in Messinia and elsewhere. In 1357 the fief was granted to the Napolitan Jean Siripando who was the maitre des comptes (finance minister) of the Principality. The document of the donation has been preserved and provides valuable information about the feudal system in Messinia.

Somehow, at the beginning of the 15th century, Cosmina became a property of the Venetians (their main bases in Messinia were in Modon and Koron). It remained Venetian during all the 15th century.

In 1465, during the first Venetian-Turkish war (1463–1479) Cosmina was a stronghold of the Venetian captain Sigismund Malatesta. After the end of that war, Cosmina remained a Venetian possession. It was taken by the Turks around 1500, the same period that Modon and Koron fell and the Ottomans prevailed in the entire Peloponnese.

The village was probably abandoned in the early period of the Tourkokratia. There is no mention of it in the Second Venetian period (1685-1715).

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The site is scattered with unidentifiable ruins. A stone path leads to the top of the hill where are the remains of a tower.

The construction of the tower shows that it was not built in the early period of the Frangokratia. Most probably, it was built by the Venetians in the 15th century.

The chronology and the nature of the rest of the ruins are even more uncertain except from the remains of two medieval chapels. There are no clear traces of other fortification at the site. Two buildings with a good quality stone structure are clearly the result of relatively recent (19th or early 20th cent.) modifications of older -but undated- buildings.

Sources