Aptera Fortress

The Aptera Fortress (Modern Greek: Κάστρο Απτέρων), also known as the fortress of Áptera (Φρούριο Απτέρων), as well as the tower of Áptera (Κούλες Απτέρας) or the tower of Soúmpasis (Κούλες Σούμπαση), is a castle situated near the village of Áptera, on the island of Crete, in Greece.

The castle was built during the Ottoman period, more precisely between 1867 and 1868, shortly after the Cretan insurrection of 1866. It was erected on the orders of Hüseyin Avni Pasha, at the time governor of the island of Crete. The purpose of building the castle was to watch over the valley of Apokóronas, an important route of access from the east of the island to the town of Chania, and to support the fortress of Izzeddin, situated nearby. After the Ottoman period, the castle served as a school for the village of Megála Choráfia, today known as Áptera.

The castle stands between the ancient archaeological site of Aptera and the fortress of Izzeddin, close to the shores of Souda Bay, some twelve kilometres east of the town of Chania. Built on a hill at a height of about 170 metres above sea level, the castle is Π-shaped, open on the north side, with two circular towers, one in the south-east corner and the other in the south-west corner. At its centre is a central courtyard. The main entrance gate is on the east. The castle is in a good state of preservation because of its relative youth and because it saw little use during the great battles.

Machine-translated from “Château d'Áptera” on the French Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Aptera Fortress ranks #7,734 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #105 of the 134 mapped in Greece. 3 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in French) ↗