Ruins of a medieval settlement with castle on a rocky formation which is the south end of mount Santameri or Skollis. On the same mountain, higher, 5km to the north, there was the castle of Santameri , one of the important castles of the Frankish period.

The name of the castle implies a passage which might have been the 2km-wide land strip between the mountain and Pineios river.

Location & Strategic Scope

History

Portes appears in historical records as a Frankish fief in the list of the properties of Amedeo of Savoy of 1391. According to this document, Portes was held on behalf of the Prince’s bailiff by a certain Jacob of Cyprus (Jaco de Chipre) and it contained 100 households.

The settlement is included also in the lists of 1463, 1467 and 1471, rotating between Venetian and Turkish rule

It appears also in the census of 1689 and of 1700, during the second Venetian period of Peloponnese. In 1700, the population for the first time is significantly decreased to 22 households. It must have been abandoned completely after a few decades, in the 18th century.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

Portes consists of a castle with a tower at a high point and the houses outside the fortification. The ruins of c.100 houses extend to the NW of the citadel covering about one hectare.

The main tower measures 4✖5 m and is built above a cistern which seems to be the only water tank of the settlement.

A large rectangular enclosure is located between the citadel and the houses measuring 4✖5 m. The function of this structure is not clear. Strangley, there are no traces of a church inside the settlement, although there are two cave-chapels with frescoes nearby.

Sources