Crete has always been a point of contest for the Mediterranean peoples due to its physical and geopolitical location. All conquerors that passed from this land built major fortifications, such as castles, fortresses, walls, towers, so as to oversee the broader region in order to have time to prepare for any potential threat, and to ensure communication between their territories.
When travelling the villages in the region you will see many ruins of the monuments strewn throughout the landscape and you can be certain that they hold many stories. Stories that it would be a shame to forget. It is helpful to know that they are divided into the following categories:
Walls: These concern the major cities of the northern shoreline.
Fortresses or Castellos, as the Venetian fortresses are called, can be found throughout the island. In fact, many villages are called Kasteli, obviously due to old fortresses, which may not exist today. The castles, fortresses and castellos were public buildings erected with public funds and the labour of local populations. Crete is a large island with many locations that can be used to disembark onto the island.
Thus, the various conquerors, mainly the Venetians, made sure to construct dozens of fortresses in key-positions on the island and the islets around it, which they used to monitor the surrounding area and its passages. For the Venetians there was no chance that an area’s defensive position not be utilised; they made sure that each fiefdom – no matter how small – had its own castle.
Kouledes (plural of ‘koules’, Forts): Fortresses constructed by the Ottomans upon conquering Chandax in 1669 (after a 22- year siege), in an effort to strengthen their presence throughout Crete. The Ottomans maintained their fortifications throughout their presence on the island.
Towers: Towers were tall buildings with strong foundations used mainly for defensive purposes. Their shape was circular, semi-circular, square or polygonal. Towers were often built on the external sides of castle walls, near the gates and at the corners of fortresses. Erecting a tower was one of the fortification measures undertaken by the various conquerors of Crete (mainly Venetians and Ottomans) to strengthen their dominance on the island and protect themselves from the constant revolutionary movements of Cretans. Towers were also built by the Byzantines during the 961-1204 A.D. period, to protect their province from pirate raids.
Towers were smaller buildings usually built by individuals or feudal families with forced labour or at their own expense. They were private property that was passed down to their descendants. That is why the family crest was placed in a conspicuous place, usually above the central gate, and attested to the tower’s identity. The systematic construction of towers was initially undertaken by the Venetians and then the Ottoman Malikian Aghas.
Furthermore, there were also towers that did not have a clear defensive character. They were instead luxurious mansions where village lords resided. They were constructed in such a way as to cover the residential needs of feudal lords, while also serving various administrative and military purposes. They were known as mansions, konakia, and serayia, and they also served the role of a tower.
Most towers no longer exist, as they were destroyed by the rage of the Cretans in revolt.