The Byzantine Paleokastro Castle can be found in the northeastern direction of the Ios island about twenty kilometers from the port.

Paleokastro which inGreek means “old castle” (paleo=old kastro=castle)dominates above a hill at an altitude of 275 meters above sea levelin an isolated area, difficult to reach and consequently difficult toconquer with surprise attacks. Its position between the beach of AgiaTheodothi and the Psathi beach is dictated by the fact that fromhere you have a complete view of the Aegean and allowed theinhabitants to see in time the arrival of pirates or those who wantedto usurp the island . The view is something spectacular, you canclearly see the Naxos island, Paros Andros up to Ikaria when thesky is particularly clear and all the islets surrounding Ios as wellas part of the island.

Curiosity, in ancient times,fire signals were used to communicate with neighboring islands andships.

It was built in 1300 byMarco Crispo, son of Francesco Crispo who usurped the Naxos Duchyin 1361 on the basis of a previous Byzantine fortress. Originally theByzantines built the manor as a control tower for the maritimepassages arriving in Crete but with the arrival of the Venetians itwas converted into a fortified citadel to protect the population.

To this day you canstill admire parts of the mighty walls, some right on the edge of thecliff that surrounded it and that gave shelter and security to thecitizens, ruins of some buildings as well as the beautiful church dedicated to the Paleokastrissa Virgin Mary shaded on the rightside by a centuries old olive tree. Every 8th of September animportant festival is organized in honor of the Virgin Mary in whichall the Ios inhabitants participate as well as many visitors fromthe nearby islands.