The castle is on a rocky peninsula at the sheltered bay of Mezapos north from the Cape Cavo Grosso of Mani. Actually this is more a ruined byzantine town than a real castle. The peninsula sticks out like a frying pan (from whence it gets its name).

The settlement was fortified probably in the 6th century but abandoned in the 7th century.

There are signs of houses, cisterns and churches though little above the foundation level remains apart from some of the walls surmounting the cliffs. The impressiveness of the site has lead some observers to claim it as Grande Magne. But the remains are, if anything, a site of late antiquity or early Byzantine. The format of the churches, for example, is basilical - a style seldom after the 700s. The position, whereas relatively easy to defend, cannot dominate the surrounding deep Mani peninsular.

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