Chorio Castle Kimolos

The Chorio Venetian Castle, we find it less than a kilometer from the Pshati port within today's capital in the southeast part of the Kimolos island.

A relic of the past that perfectly conveys the idea of what life once was like.In 1207 Kimolos entered the Naxos Duchy under the direction of the Venetian Marco Sanudo. In 1537 it was besieged and sacked by the Turkish pirate Barbarossa who was however unable to finish the period of dominion of the Venetians who were, however, forced to pay an annual tribute to the Sultan. Its construction dates back to the end of the 16th century by the Ioannes Rafos hand, a shipowner who is presumed to have wanted the fortress for the sailors and families of his fleet. A second function was to protect the inhabitants and their possessions from the continuous raids by marauders while remaining close to the sea for local trade. In 1638 it was attacked for the second time and on this occasion it was destroyed.

Its shape is exactly like other 15th century Venetian settlements found in the Cyclades Islands. Called a "village within a village", in the center it was protected by two rectangular complexes of houses with converging radii at the same point, one attached to the other with external walls without openings which therefore formed a protective wall from the outside. They were of hard iron rock with limestone decorations and lintels where coats of arms and dates were engraved. There were 123 of them, they had two floors where each level housed a family. Between the two complexes a sort of very narrow ring road where only carts could pass. In the heart of the manor of the adjacent palaces and a square with the Nativity of Christ Church built in 1592. In the street below Agios Chrysostomos is the Agios Spyridon church where an icon of the 600 representing Christ and the Virgin is kept inside. To the east instead the Evangestristria church, to the west the two parallel churches of the seventeenth century Panagia Oikonomou and Metamorphosis while to the south the Taxiarches church. Later some square defensive towers were built, some of which are now in ruins while others transformed into homes.

The external castle has two doors, one to the south called Lower Door which overlooked the street and the market, and one to the east called Upper Door where today the Folklore Museum and the Sea Museum are located. On both entrances of the engravings of 1650 and 1646. Every morning the citizens left the fortress to go to work, then returned in the evening or when the alarm was sounded sometimes even setting a fire for the approach of the brigands. Those who could not reach the citadel were forced to take shelter in a cave. At the end of the 17th century, houses appeared outside the castle as the danger of pirates was disappearing more and more, but the strong expansion took place after the Greek war of independence.

The central part of the Kastro nicknamed Mesa (inside in Greek) Kastro today is in complete ruins, while Exo (outside in Greek) Kastro the houses are still well preserved and doors and windows have been obtained.