GREECE PELOPONNESE ARGOLIS MYLOI MYLOI CASTLE

The Frankish castle of Myloi can be seen from quite a distance (above left: view from Kiveri). The 179 m high hill, ancient Pontinos hill, is not very steep, but instead of climbing it, your car (certainly if it is a 4-wheel-drive) may manage the rocky trail that leads up to the chapel of the Prophet Elias and the castle. On the way you might meet a herd of goats.

In antiquity the summit was crowned by a Temple of Athena Saitis and the house of Hippomedon, the ruins of which were described by Pausanias in the second century AD. Today, there is nothing left of these ancient monuments. What we do see are the ruins of the medieval castle of Civeri, Kiveri, or Chamires. Its layout and the technology of the fortification indicate that it was most probably built by the Franks in the 13th or 14th century.

The castle was first mentioned in a document of 1347, the will of Gautier de Brienne, Lord of Argos and Nafplion. He devised that the incomes from a rental are to be given to the priest of the castle, provided that he stays there forever and ministers a service every day. In 1388, Marie d'Enghien, the last heir of the de LaRoche-de Brienne family, sold the castle to the Duchy of Venice. But before the Proveditor, Perazzo Malipiero, could assume control, the castles of Argos and Kiveri were seized by Theodoros Palaiologos, the Despot of Mystras.