Abandoned tower on a private plot on the (narrow) main street of the village Gerani of Rethymno prefecture in Crete.

The history of the tower is not known. Most of the towers of this type are buildings of the 15th or 16th century, such as the towers of Maroulas.
We can not be absolutely sure about this dating, but the tower can not be older, while it is certain it is Venetian (that is, it is not a building of the Ottoman era).

The tower overlooked the bay to the northeast, but also had a very good view to the south, ie to the interior of the island and the surrounding mountains.

Although it has been described as a watchtower, it was most likely the tower-house of a local landowner. It may have existed before the foundation of the village, which is recorded in the Venetian censuses of 1600 and 1700.

The tower has a square layout with sides measuring about 4 meters. Today there are two floors: the ground floor with a vaulted ceiling and one floor. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the tower was preserved in its original height as shown in a photograph by the Italian scholar Gerola (see ARTWORK above). The photo shows the tower with one more floor (maybe two) and equipped with a typical Venetian guardiola at the top.

Sources