Castle of Ochia

The name Κάστρο της Οχιάς, also Oreias or Orias, is given to the ruins of a medieval castle and also of a settlement in Elis. The name of the settlement is unknown, as it has not been identified with any known one. The site lies on the border of the prefectures of Achaea and Elis, at the south-western end of Erymanthos, which is called "Kakotarovouni" and more often "Skiadovouni", among the villages of Kakotari, Tsipiana, Kryovrysi and the hamlet of Ntinaiika. The site lies in rough terrain and is accessible only by jeep or on foot.

The acropolis is built on the summit of a hill at the point where the Keresovitiko river flows into the Pineios. In 1992 an expedition of the MARWP of the University of Minnesota carried out surveys in the area and also at the neighbouring Castle of Agia Triada. At the foot of the hill there are ruins of dwellings, churches and a cemetery; in the wider area watermills of the Ottoman period have been found. Nearby the ruins of a temple of Apollo have been found.

Near the site is the Diakotrypa, a cave featuring in the folk tradition of the village of Kryovrysi, which Christos Koryllos recorded in 1891. According to it, Kryovrysi was formerly situated near the Diakotrypa, as was the castle, but was abandoned because of a ghost.

Machine-translated from “Κάστρο της Οχιάς” on the Greek Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Castle of Ochia ranks #8,110 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #132 of the 134 mapped in Greece. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Patras, 43 km away. It is one of the 35 landmarks on the atlas's regional map of the Peloponnese. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia (in Greek) ↗