Few remains of a fortification on a hill named “Palaiokastro” 1200m west of the village Daphne of Kalavryta (old name: Strezova).

The fortification is often referred to as the Western castle of Strezova as opposed to the Eastern castle of Strezova or castle of Drymonas which allegedly existed on a hill 4km east of Daphne, overlooking Ladonas river. This eastern fortification is mentioned by Wikipedia and some local sites, but the fact is that today nothing is found there. And it is not clear if an Eastern Strezova castle ever existed.

History

The village Strezova in its current position was founded during the Tourkokratia. We do not know if the name pre-existed but it is possible because a Strezza castle is included in the lists of castles of 1463, for which it is believed that is identified with this Palaiokastro.

Other than that, there is no other information about the history of the castle. The wall remains are definitely not ancient. We shall classify as Frankish, but cannot be sure.

Structure, Fortification & Buildings

The top of the hill is a small plateau with maximum length 30m. At the southern side of this plateau there are a few piles of stones and a few meters of a dry wall 1.5m to 2m thick. Papandreou (1906) reports a wall 300m long which is difficult to be verified due to the dense vegetation on the hill. However it seems improbable that 100m of walls are hiding in the bushes.

In the plateau and below there are no signs of mortar, bricks or tile.

Sources