Gia - METHONI CASTLE

I experienced Methoni as being very beautiful and peaceful. It was a small city with a large castle that I visited. The castle is very old, from the fifteenth century A.D., with a small town within the castle gates. As I walked from place to place I noticed the old sidewalks and what looked like dungeons, which actually turned out to be Turkish baths. I think my favorite part of the castle was where ancient people shot cannons and arrows at intruders, who were on ships in the surrounding sea. I thought the views were amazing and it's just very fun to explore this place.

The castle at Methoni used to be totally cut off from land by a great moat. The Venetians in part for its military function maintained it, in part as a staging post fro pilgrims en route, via Crete and Cyprus, and to the Holy Land. From the thirteenth to the nineteenth century it sheltered a substantial town.

Within the fortress are the remains of a Venetian cathedral, along with a Turkish bath, the foundations of dozens of houses, and some underground passages. On some walls there were also carved pictures of winged lion, which was (and still is) a sign of Venice and St. Paul. The Turks also built an octagonal tower in the sixteenth century to replace an earlier Venetian fortification, which has an extremely tall ceiling.

The castle at Methoni is fortified, which means it has a wall around it. The wall was very thick and still strong. Parts of it, though, had fallen and we saw a part that was about to fall into the sea.

Methoni was really interesting, because you got to explore and touch everything and climb up steps. It was a very hands on experience which I liked very much. If youÕre looking to have fun, I prefer it to the Parthenon.