The Trikala Castle () is the Byzantine-era citadel of the city of

Trikala Trikala () is a city in northwestern Thessaly, Greece, and the capital of the Trikala (regional unit), Trikala regional unit. The city straddles the Lithaios river, which is a tributary of Pineios (Thessaly), Pineios. According to the Greek Natio ...

in western

Thessaly Thessaly ( ; ; ancient Aeolic Greek#Thessalian, Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic regions of Greece, geographic and modern administrative regions of Greece, administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient Thessaly, a ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

History

The castle lies on a hill at the northeastern side of the city, and was first built, according to Procopius of Caesarea, by Emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

(r. 527–565) on the ruins of the

acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens ...

of the ancient city of Trikke. In its current form it largely dates from the Palaiologan period, where it was extensively rebuilt and remodelled. The citadel suffered much damage during its conquest by the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

in 1393/4, but the city's importance as a bulwark against the restless inhabitants of the Pindus mountains and the Agrafa region, as well as being the centre of the Ottoman administration in Thessaly, meant that it was quickly repaired and strengthened. The castle suffered damage and was repaired after the failed rebellions of 1854 and 1878 against Ottoman rule.

Description

The castle is, according to the archaeologist Krystallo Mantzana, a "typical Byzantine fortification", with an elongated shape along an axis from southwest to north, strengthened by square towers. The castle comprises three distinct enceintes on different levels of the hill: the lower fortress on the southern slope of the hill; the middle fortress, which is the largest of the three; and the inner fortress, also known by its Turkish name ''Its Kale'' (Ιτς Καλέ), which lies on the northeastern corner of the castle is protected by four particularly large and tall towers. Traces of the original Justinianian fortification have been found in the southern slopes, as well as the area of the inner citadel. On the eastern side of the castle is the Clock Tower of Trikala, originally erected in the mid-17th century by the Ottomans. The original tower was destroyed by the Germans during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and was rebuilt after the war.

References

{{Byzantine monuments of Thessaly Buildings and structures in Trikala Byzantine castles in Thessaly 14th-century fortifications in Greece