Remains of a small castle, most probably late medieval, on a spur overlooking the village’s cemetery.

Castle Description

General Description
“Kastelas”, situated on a high limestone rock over the Rhodian west coast which protrudes spur-like to the sea side, just 2 km south of the scattered settlement Kameiros Skala, is one of the best preserved Knights Hospitallers‘ castles on Rhodes.
Although Kastelas, known by various names, is also called Kastro Kritinias (i.e. Castle of Kritinia) this name is rather misleading according to recent knowledge, since there is also a castle next to Kritinia, a village located about 3 km southeast of Kastelas Castle.
“From this castle it is still three quarters of an hour after the village kastellos (η Καστέλλος), named by it, to which a picturesque gorge decorated with gardens leads up”, reported the archaeologist Prof. Ludwig Ross (1806-1859), who visited Kastelas in September 1843. (German original text: „Von diesem Schlosse sind es noch drei Viertelstunden nach dem von ihm benannten Dorfe Kastellos (η Καστέλλος), zu welchem eine malerische mit Gärten geschmückte Schlucht hinaufführt“; see: Ludwig Ross: Reisen auf den griechischen Inseln des ägäischen Meeres. Dritter Band. Enthaltend Melos, Kimolos, Thera, Kasos, Karpathos, Rhodos, Chalke, Syme, Kos, Kalymnos, Ios [Reisen und Länderbeschreibungen in der älteren und neuesten Zeit, eine Sammlung der interessantesten Werke über Länder- und Staaten-Kunde, Geographie und Statistik, 31. Lieferung], Stuttgart and Tübingen [Germany] 1845, p. 104).
Prof. Ross does not seem to have noticed the castle at Kritinia.

Until modern times, the village of Kritinia, located in the hills above the Rhodian west coast, was called "Kastellos" (cf. Giuseppe Gerola: I monumenti medioevali delle 13 Sporadi. In: Annuario della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente, I, 1914, pp. 319-356, here p. 328).

We found ruins of a small castle on the outskirts of the village, to which the name “Kastro Kritinias” would probably apply more than to the castle Kastelas (cf. Losse 2017, p. 91). The location of this castle of Kritinia, which is hardly known in the village anymore, is the spur terraced on both sides for (today abandoned) fields, a hill tongue on which the archangel church Archangelos Michail stands on the edge of the village’s cemetery. On the summit about 4m above the cemetery lies the square ruin at the spur top with up to 2.5m high wall remains (inside about 9✖10m). On the north side, the wall is about 1.50 m thick. On the south side a talus is attached to the castle’s wall. A new wall runs in front of it. Presumably, the walls were demolished by stone robbery for house buildings in the village.

The surroundings and interior of the ruin are currently used as a vegetable garden and orchard.

It is possible that the spur bore a Mycenaean or ancient fortification, but little can be seen due to the partly dense vegetation. Clearly dateable ceramics are not known. It is unclear whether the unlocalized field name “Pirgos” for Kritinia mentioned by Alexandra Stefanidou (2002) refers to the castle ruins at the cemetery (cf. Alexandra Stefanidou: Castles of the Knights Hospitallers. In: Anna Triposkoufi/Amalia Tsitouri [Ed.]: Venetians and Knights Hospitallers. Military Architecture Networks [ARCHI-MED Pilot Action]. Athens 2002, pp. 184-253, here p. 215). Even older inhabitants of the village had no knowledge of this.

Access
No access, private property. The castle can only be seen from afar.

History of the castle
Unknown.
It remains to be clarified: Does the old name “Kastellos” of the village Kritinia refer to the castle Kastelas or does it refer to the castle at the cemetery of the place.

Other Info

Sources