Kastro Kales

Kastro Kales (Modern Greek: Κάστρο της Ιεράπετρας), also known as Kástro Kalés (Modern Greek: Κάστρο Καλές), is a castle located in the town of Ierapetra, on the island of Crete, Greece.

The castle was built during the island's Venetian period, more precisely at the beginning of the 13th century. According to one version, it was built by the Genoese pirate Enrico Pescatore, who subsequently sold it to the Venetians. In 1508 the castle was severely damaged by an earthquake. In 1626 it was refortified by Francesco Morosini, while in 1647, like the rest of the region of Ierapetra, it passed under Ottoman rule. The Ottomans restored the castle, while also fortifying the whole town more substantially, including the town walls themselves. The castle's name Kalés comes from the Turkish word kale/kule, meaning "castle" or "tower". The building, which housed a garrison of 300 men, was considerably damaged by the earthquake of 6 December 1779.

The castle stands at the southern end of the town of Ierapetra and guards its harbour. It is rectangular in plan with a tower at each corner. The castle is relatively modest in size, while its walls are rather low.

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

Kastro Kales ranks #7,253 of 8,133 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #96 of the 134 mapped in Greece. Founded 1212, it is older than 76% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 860 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in French) ↗