Larissa of Argos medieval castle to get repairs with EU funds

The Peloponnesian castle was declared a national monument by Greece in 1992; its preservation project that the EU is partly funding is worth 945,000 euros.
Located on the top of a hill which was used since prehistoric times for defence

purposes, the castle was repaired and augmented by the Argives in the 5th and 6th centuries. It was built up by the Byzantines in the 10th century, who turned it into a major fortress in the Peloponnese.
Its history reflects the turbulence of the Middle Ages and later, as it came under the jurisdiction of the lord of Nafplio, Leon Sgouros, in 1203; was taken over by the Franks, who rebuilt it into its present form in 1212; was sold to the Venetians in 1394; and fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1463 – with a brief interlude when it became Venetian again – until 1822, when it was taken over by Turkish Ottoman general Dramalis, after the Greeks had declared their war of independence in 1821.
During World War Two, the castle was severely damaged by bombs dropped by the Germans, who were trying to flush out resistance fighters.
Today little survives of a 12th-century Byzantine church, while architectural members of earlier constructions including from the Classical era were used to build and repair the fortress walls and are still discernible today.

source: ΑΜΝΑ