Ruins of a Venetian tower-house in a rural area 2.5 km southeast of the village of Preveliana, in the region of Heraklion in Crete.

History

We do not know anything about the history or the owners of this particular tower. It is definitely Venetian. Towers like this are usually 16th century constructions, but it may have been built earlier.

During Venetian rule, buildings of this type in rural areas of Crete were usually mansions. They belonged to wealthy Venetian or Greek landowners. They were luxurious (for the time) residences and villas, and not defensive towers, but they did have some fortification elements.

Around the tower there are ruins of other buildings, perhaps remnants of a building complex of which the tower was a part. Northeast of the tower, at a distance of 100m, is a chapel of the Virgin Mary (photo 3).

The only researcher who, as far as we know, has visited this monument was the Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Gerola who visited the area in 1914. He describes the building as vechia torre (old tower). In his book he also includes a photograph (photo 4) that shows it in not much worse condition than it is today.
He informs us that the monument is located at the area of Pirghos and has internal dimensions of 4.80✖8.35m.

Three kilometers to the south there is a similar tower house, in a similar location and with similar ruins around (even with a chapel nearby). This is the Kavalou Tower. The Preveliana Tower, however, is considerably smaller.

Gerola presents both towers as belonging – during Venetian rule – to the Castellania di Mirabello.

Sources