Skiathos Castle

The Castle was founded in the mid-14th century by the citizens of the ancient (and later Byzantine) city of Skiathos, which was located where the modern city now stands, after pirate attacks forced them to relocate to a steep, naturally fortified site at the island’s northern edge. At this place, the medieval city of Skiathos developed and seems to have been the island’s only city during the 15th century. In 1453, the Skiathos Castle came under Venetian rule. In 1538, it was seized by Hayreddin Barbarossa, and in 1540 it was conquered by the Ottomans, under whose rule it remained until its liberation and the reestablishment of the modern-day settlement in 1829.
The castle extends over a steep, rocky coastal promontory, connected to the shore by a movable wooden bridge that is supported by stone podiums. From the once-medieval fortified settlement, the only remaining structures are the gate, the northern wall, house ruins (from approximately 300 houses, according to Alexandros Papadiamantis), two water tanks, the churches of Jesus, St. Nikolas, Virgin Mary (Panagia) – Prekla, and Virgin Mary (Panagia) – Megalomata, the mosque, and the administration building.