The Akova Castle ( el, Κάστρο της Άκοβας) is a medieval fortification in

Gortynia Gortynia ( el, Γορτυνία) is a municipality in the Arcadia regional unit, Peloponnese, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Dimitsana. The municipality has an area of 1,050.882 km2. Municipality The municipality Gortynia w ...

Arcadia Arcadia may refer to: Places Australia * Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Arcadia, Queensland * Arcadia, Victoria Greece * Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese * Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The medieval castle, also known as Mattegriffon, is built on top of a steep hill, inaccessible from the three sides. The castle was the centre of the Barony of Akova, one of the most important lordships of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

Principality of Achaea, established in the Morea after the

Fourth Crusade The Fourth Crusade (1202–1204) was a Latin Christian armed expedition called by Pope Innocent III. The stated intent of the expedition was to recapture the Muslim-controlled city of Jerusalem, by first defeating the powerful Egyptian Ayyubid S ...

. Below the castle are ruins of an unidentified ancient acropolis, possibly ancient Teuthis. For the last 40 years, Akova has been the site of a summer festival, involving theatrical plays and other cultural activities, hosted by the nearby village of Vyziki.

Sources

* * {{coord, 37.7176, 21.9881, type:landmark_region:GR, display=title Castles and fortifications of the Principality of Achaea Buildings and structures in Arcadia, Peloponnese 13th-century fortifications in Greece