Byzantine Castle of Platamonas #1310

Description

The castle is built on the site of the ancient city of Heracleia. The name “Platamon” first appears in a 1198 imperial decree, though it is likely that a Byzantine castle had already existed there since the 10th century.

Following the fall of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, Platamon came under the control of Boniface of Montferrat, king of Thessaloniki, who granted it to the Lombard knight Rolando Piska. Piska rebuilt the castle over the old ruins.

Not long after, the castle returned to Byzantine hands. In 1218, it was captured by Theodoros Angelos, the Despot of Epirus, and following the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259, it came under the control of Michael Palaiologos of Nicaea, who later became Byzantine emperor.

The Ottomans seized the castle in 1385 and maintained it carefully, recognizing its strategic importance. Between 1425 and 1427, the Venetians briefly took control, but the Ottomans regained it and held it until the early 20th century.

During World War II, in April 1941, a unit of New Zealand troops attempted to defend Platamon but were forced to retreat after German forces bombarded the castle.