Feraklos Castle, Charaki, Greece

Feraklos Castle is a ruined medieval fortress, located on an 85 m-high hill overlooking the village of Charaki. It was originally built in the Byzantine era and captured by the Knights Hospitaller on 20 September 1306, being their first possession on the island that would become their base. By 1408 it was in ruins, and was repaired under the Grand Masters Giovanni Battista Orsini (1467–76) and Pierre d'Aubusson (1476–1503) as a stronghold to protect the area, and particularly watch over the anchorages at the Charaki and Agia Agathi beaches nearby.

After 1470, the Hospitallers abandoned all other fortifications on the island except for Feraklos, nearby Lindos, and the city of Rhodes, which in turn were further strengthened. A decree of 1474 prescribed that the Feraklos Castle was the place of refuge by the inhabitants of the villages of Malona, Salia, Katagros, Zinodotou, and Kaminari when there was danger.

The fort was captured by the Ottoman Empire in 1523 after a long siege, a few months after the capture of Rhodes. The Ottomans did not use the castle and it has since been abandoned.

The fortress has an irregular polygonal layout, with a wall perimeter of 680 m encompassing an area of 1,700 square meters. The northern and western portions date to Byzantine times, but the rest are additions or modifications by the Hospitallers. A single gate and two cylindrical towers survive in the southern portion of the walls, along with a cistern in the interior.

References:

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User Reviews

Nick Imming (7 months ago)
Careful where you step and don't go in the afternoon in the summer, unless you have some experience hiking. After your hike, I recommend to go to golden beach to cool down.

Movidijus2012 (7 months ago)
Great views, worth a visit. Easy climb up. Some remains of a castle :) free to visit

Lukáš Gába (2 years ago)
Relatively preserved ruins of the fortress of the medieval history of Greece. It's worth going up here on foot, it takes about 10 minutes and there is a beautiful view all around and you can walk along the ruined walls of this fortress.

Ivanklin Soares Campos Filho (2 years ago)
Nice climbing till there...and give some entertainment for children, just be careful, the round-shaped stones can be tricky!

Stacey Thomas (2 years ago)
Worth the climb up for the view. I don't think you'll see much of historical interest relating to the castle as it's literally a ruin with rocks piled up. Watch your footing on the climb up as the rocks are smooth and loose. There are also lizards and spiders; I saw what looked like a Carolina Wolf spider which was pretty cool.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright discopalace

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Sigmaringen Castle

Sigmaringen Castle was first mentioned in the year 1077 in the chronicles of Petershausen monastery. The oldest parts of the castle are concealed beneath the alterations made during the 17th and the 19th centuries. The secret of the earliest settlement built on this defendable rock will never be fully revealed: large-scale excavation work would be necessary, which the extensive land development renders impossible. Judging from the many Roman remains unearthed in the area around Sigmaringen, the 12th century keep known as the 'Roman Tower' could be traced back to a Roman predecessor.

The castle remains that have been preserved (gate, great hall and keep) date back to the Staufer period around 1200. The castle remains were integrated into subsequent buildings. The foundations of the castle buildings are to a large extent identical to the surrounding castle wall.

These remains give us a good idea of how the castle might have looked during the 12th century.

Feraklos Castle

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