Greece · 4th century BC
Phyle ranks #8,967 of 9,040 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #124 of the 133 mapped in Greece. Founded c. 350 BC, it is older than 99% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 15 atlas entries founded in the 4th century BC. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Athens, 19 km away. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.
The fortress of Phyle (Modern Greek Φυλή, pronounced with final stress, Fili), named after the deme of the same name in which it lies, is situated in the Parnitha mountains in the Greek region of Attica.
The place is first mentioned in connection with an event of the year 404 BC (Xenophon, Hellenica 2.4). The fortress visible today goes back to the 4th century BC and was still in use in the 3rd century BC as well. It commands the most important connection between Athens and Boeotian Thebes. The main gate of the fortress was flanked by towers, among them a round tower, very rare in Greek fortress building. The garrison consisted of ephebes, who spent one year of their service as border guards.
Machine-translated from “Phyle (Festung)” on the German Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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