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The Towers of Gattilusi on the Island of Samothraki
Samothraki in Evros, GreeceAbout the year of 1430 Samothraki was taken into possession by the Genoese family the Gattilusi. The ruler Palmidis Gatillusi fortified the island to protect it from the Ottomans and the pirate raids which can be seen from the towers in the capital, Paleapolis and Fonia. The Genoese fortifications, rising to the present day, are important monuments and examples of late-Byzantine fortification architecture on the territory of Greece.
West of the capital of the island, on the top of the rocky elevation, parts of fortification have survived to the present day. The place must have been fortified by Gattilusi around 1430 with a wall built over an earlier fortification of a Byzantine fortress from the 10th century, when the islanders moved from Paleapolis to the interior to escape from pirate raids.
The Gattilusi family built not only in the capital.
In Paleapolis on the frightful rock, close to the ancient harbour, they equipped a fortification, consisting of three towers. Old building materials from ancient constructions in the area were used for their building.
At the promontory, where the Foniyas river flows into the sea rises the lonely Tower of Foniyas, looking down over the mouth of the stream and the sea shore.
