Platamon Castle

The Platamon Castle (Greek: Κάστρο του Πλαταμώνα), an important part of the history of Pieria, is a Crusader castle (built between 1204 and 1222) in Macedonia, Greece and is located southeast of Mount Olympus, in a strategic position which controls the exit of the Tempe valley, through which passes the main road connecting Macedonia with Thessaly and southern Greece.

The place, which today is occupied by the castle, was used by the city of Herakleion (Ἡράκλειον) in pre-Christian times.

In the year 430 BC, The Athenians conquered the place to control from here the Thermaic Gulf to their possessions on the Chalkidiki.

In the year 169 BC, from Thessaly coming, they held their camp in the plain between Herakleion and Leivithra before starting their campaign against the Macedonian Kingdom.

In 1204, western knights founded the Kingdom of Thessaloniki in the course of their conquest of Constantinople, which also included the castle of Platamon.

Only the main tower, the donjon, which is surrounded by its own wall, is located in the western part of the complex.

Many of the basics of churches, houses, a smithy, pottery and other buildings testify to the life of the past.

The wall is accessible in several places for visitors and invites you to enjoy the fantastic view of the surroundings.

Paradoxically, the construction of a railway tunnel through the hill a few years ago has, from the point of view of archaeologists, used the facility more than harmed.

During the construction, further ground plans of buildings were discovered which are assigned to the historic city of Herakleion.