Assos Castle Kefalonia

Assos Castle is located in the homonymous village in the north east of the Kefalonia Island. Together with the  Agios Georgios fortress, it represents the military architecture of the island.

Wanted and built during the period of Venetian domination in the sixteenth century precisely in 1584, its position right above the rocky hill at a height of 170 meters, occupies the entire peninsula that plunges into the splendid Ionian Sea. The reason for its construction was to be able to have greater control and protection on the island from pirate raids and invaders, as only the castle of Agios Georgios could not guarantee it throughout the territory.

It had two access routes, the main one with an arched entrance connected to the coast by a narrow strip of land, the other smaller instead reachable from the south only by sea. Overlooking the bay of Kyriaki with the Paliki peninsula to the northwest, expanding to 44,000 square meters protected by a mighty two kilometer long wall with ramparts, it was a real fortified citadel that became the northern capital of Kefalonia.

The construction works were under the supervision of Ambrosius Cornelius and the architect was the Venetian Marco Gentilini who at the end of the works decided to move permanently to Kefalonia so much so that his name is indicated in the Golden Book of the noble families of island. Nowadays the heirs are the owners of the Winery winery, one of the largest wine producers in Kefalonia. In 1684 the republic of the Serenissima took the island of Lefkada away from the Turks, so the fortress of Assos began to lose importance and with the passing of the years, even the danger of pirates was eliminated, making it less and less necessary at a strategic level. so much so that the capital was brought definitively to Argostoli.

However, Assos remained the seat of the Venetian governor until the fall of the Venetian Republic. In 1822 a province of Epirus moved from Suli to the mainland about two thousand people who revived the stronghold. At the beginning of the twentieth century it was transformed into a prison for political prisoners who took care of the prosperous vineyards as punishment. The tremendous earthquake of 1953 caused extensive damage in the area and most of the inhabitants left the castle except for six people who remained there until 1963.

Now it is possible to visit what remains of this important outpost via a paved path that reaches the main arched entrance where you can observe the coat of arms of the lion of San Marco and, admire the ruins of the small church dedicated to San Marco, the the governor's house, the ruins of the house of the Gentilini family and the now abandoned chapel of the Prophet Elias of 1888 built on top of a previous church dating back to 1500. Given its position, the castle offers a breathtaking view overlooking the whole sea to the bay of Myrtos.

Wherever you are on the island, you still have to go north east and find the village of Assos which by the way is one of the most beautiful and picturesque on the island. If you don't have your own vehicle, from Argostoli there are buses that connect it to Assos in about 1 hour and a half. We recommend that you always consult the timetables to avoid nasty surprises.

An identifying part to visit and include in the list of things to do in Kefalonia to take advantage of seeing an important piece of history and a gem like the village of Assos.