Byzantine Tower of Psalida #1323

Description

In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, a village named Psallida is mentioned in the area of Nikiti. Today, only a few traces of the village remain, as the land it once occupied has been converted into farmland.

It is unknown exactly when Psallida was destroyed, but its absence from records after 1330 suggests it may have been destroyed during the raids of the Catalan Company in Chalkidiki between 1307 and 1309.

In the early 14th century, the settlement that would become the present-day village of Nikiti began to form. Information about this period is drawn from documents of the Xenophontos Monastery. In the "land of Neakitou," tenant farmers were settled to cultivate the monastery's extensive lands. Census documents indicate that the number of tenants was gradually increasing, likely including residents from Psallida. In 1352, it is noted that there was also a tower "at Neakitos" for the area’s security, which is most likely the tower that still survives today.