Skiathos Castle

1360, as the local inhabitants fled from the previous main settlement (on the same site as the modern town of Skiathos) due to the depredations of the Turkish pirates.

As with the rest of the island, the castle remained in Byzantine hands until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, when it was taken over by the Republic of Venice.

Venetian rule proved oppressive, leading to a rebellion against the local governor Vicenzo Baffo in 1518, and failed to provide security from the Ottoman corsairs.

In 1829, as Skiathos became part of the new independent Greek state, the castle was abandoned and the site of the ancient and early medieval town was re-occupied.

The castle features only low walls on these sides, and its only substantial fortifications are to the south, where lies its only entrance, a narrow gate protected by a wooden drawbridge and a cauldron with boiling oil (ζεματίστρα).