Remains of a tower in the yard of a house at the southwestern end of the village of Parakoila in Lesvos.

The tower was square with dimensions at the base 7.50✖7.50m. Today only its southern wall is preserved at some height and traces from the other sides.

We do not know the history of the tower or the time of its construction. The style of construction shows that it was medieval and probably was built in the late Byzantine period. We know that there was a castle in Parakoila at that time, because, as is known from historical sources, the castle of Parakoila was one of the castles on Lesvos temporarily occupied in 1334 by the Genoese governor of Phocaea Domenico Cattaneo (who failed in his attempt to take Lesvos from the Byzantines, and in 1335 was expelled from both Lesvos and Phocaea).

In Byzantine times, and later in the time of the Gatelouzi (1355-1462), Parakoila was an important town and port from where alum was traded (important material for tanning, dyeing fabrics, in medicine etc).

The tower was part of this prosperous settlement, but it is not clear whether it was part of its castle (of which there is no other trace in and around the village) or it was an individual construction (perhaps a mansion).

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