Boudonitsa ('Mendenitsa'; 'Vriokastro'; 'Modonuη')
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The main keep at Boudonitsa, showing reuse of monolithic
stones, from the S.W. Its bigger than it looks here...
History/Description:
'of all the feudal lordships founded
in Northern Greece at the time of the conquest, the most important
and most enduring was the Marquisate of Boudonitza ... the lords
of Boudonitza were Marquesses in the literal sense of the term -
wardens of the Greek Marches ... What stranger accident could
there have been than that which made two noble Italian families
the successive guardians of the historic pass that is forever
associated with the death of Leonidas?.' (Miller) [13]
Boniface of Montferat (Latin King of Thessalonica) created the
fief of Boudonitsa and gave it to Guy Pallavicini soon after the
capture of Constantinople in 1204: the castle must have been built
shortly after. It proved to be a good investment. Sited near the
pass of Thermopylae it was a significant element in the defence of
the Frankish possessions, forming part of the northern defences of
the lordship of Athens and Thebes. The Despot of Epirus, Theodore
I Komnenos Doukas conquered Thessalonica in 1224, but Guy held the
castle against him; around 1250, the Emperor of Nicaea, John III
Doukas Vatatzes was campaigning in the region and was resisted;
Ubertino Pallavicini was on the right side in 1257 when William
Villehardouin was defeated by the Byzantines; and whilst Alberto
Pallavicini, lord of Boudonitsa was among those slaughtered by the
Catalans at the battle near Halmyros, his widow Maria de Verona
seems to have dodged being married off to one of the victors - she
married instead Andrea Cornaro, lord of Karpathos, and kept her
castle. A daughter, Guglielma, married first Bartolomeo Zacharia
and then in 1335 Niccolo Giorgio (or Zorza). Their son, Francesco,
inherited the lordship. By the 1390's (if Miller is correct) the
castle was tributary to the Turks and in 1410 the Ottomans attacked,
killed the
lord of Bodonitsa and finally took the castle (had help promised
by Venice arrived it might have survived). The final fate of the
marquisate is apparently unclear. Niccolo Giorgi had been
carried off captive when the castle fell, but in 1416 the castle
was returned to him as part of a treaty between the Ottomans and
Venice, and he lived long enough to cede it to an uncle, before it
was finally abandoned by this succession of doughty Italians. The
title was still claimed into the 1470's. The castle was used both in
the War of Independence and World War 2, when the
area was reputedly a stronghold of ELAS.
Miller reckons there was a triple enciente here originally, but
its hard to see now, and notes that the lords of Boudonitsa could
have seen Stylidia (the port of Lamia), the Gulf of Volos,
Skiathos, Skopelos, and the Northernmost of the Euboean baronies,
and the Atalante channel from the castle, together with Skiathos and Skopelos; and that it had a
landing place on the coast, about three and a half hours from the
castle by horse.
Directions: You can park in the village of Mendenitsa,
which is partly built on the old ramparts. In 2006 it was
partially obscured by a stage and seating currently on the S.E
side.
Sources: [04, 13]
View of the keep from the N.E.
View from the keep.
Re-use of monolithic stones to make a doorway, with an effort
at decoration with tiles.
Part of the keep.
View from the keep, which is set atop a steep hill
View from the keep towards Thermopylae and Malaikos Gulf near
Lamia
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