KOUNOUPELI
TOWER

You’ll be pleasantly surprised as you walk south of Kalogria Beach; a Frankish settlement was founded there in the 13th century, and the ruins of a tower, known as Kounoupeli Tower, are still present.
The medieval settlement covered two hills, with an area of 300 and 200 acres respectively; its location may correspond to that of the Pelasgian city of Hyrmine (also known as Hyrmina or Hormina).
The tower rises high over the beach and has dimensions of about 7.5 meters x 8.3 meters; it’s made of semi-finished stones and strong mortar. Its size indicates that it may have been the citadel of the settlement or a mansion. It has no openings for entry or windows, so the entrance must have been on the upper floor and accessed from an adjacent turret with a movable bridge or transportable wooden stairs.
On the same hill there was once what must have been a resplendent Christian church, as evidenced by large slabs with Byzantine reliefs partly destroyed by German troops in World War II. To the east lies the Church of Agios Nikolaos with an old icon which, according to tradition, was donated by the survivor of a shipwreck.
The most important spot on the two hills is the site of a series of Pelasgian wall foundations “made of stones from the same rock and carved according to the design of the other Pelasgian or polygonal walls”.
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