Tower of Amfikleia: A Late-Medieval Fortified Tower in Greece
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Greece
- Primary era
- Medieval
- Eras represented
- Medieval
- Civilizations
- Crusader
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Castle
History
The Tower of Amfikleia is a late-medieval fortified tower in Amfikleia, Greece, on the acropolis of ancient Amphicleia. The acropolis, the elevated and often fortified center of an ancient Greek city, now lies within the cemetery of the modern settlement.
Amfikleia was formerly known as Dadi. The settlement occupies a strategic position on the northern slopes of Mount Parnassus, south of the Boeotic Cephissus. The tower’s placement on the ancient acropolis connected the late-medieval fortification with a long-established elevated center.
Remains
Tower Structure
The tower has a rectangular footprint of approximately 8.5 by 10.5 metres and survives to about 8 metres in height. Its ground-floor base incorporates regularly cut stone blocks taken from the ancient acropolis. These reused materials, known as spolia, form the first six courses of masonry and are also used as quoins, the dressed stones that strengthen or define a building’s corners.
The walls are about 1.8 metres thick at the base and narrow to approximately 20 centimetres on each of the two surviving upper floors. Ledges projecting inward from the northern and southern walls support the first floor and extend from ground level to a height of about 2.5 metres. The entrance was set roughly 3 metres above the ground on the southern face, near the eastern corner. Its partly preserved doorway retains sockets for a closing bar, while slit windows on the other faces provided narrow openings through the thick defensive walls for limited light and observation.
