| | 
BOURTZI
Bourtzi is a small peninsula which separates the port of Skiathos in two. In the past it was a fort, which was established by the Gizi brothers who occupied Skiathos in 1207. It was surrounded by walls battlements and embrasures and on the left and right of the gate there were two round towers.
It is not possible to determine the height of the walls by the present ruins. Moreover, in the fort there was a tank and a small church called Agios Georgios, protector of the Venetians, probably built by the Gizi brothers. Because of that church, Bourtzi was also called "Kastelli tou Agiou Georgiou - Castle of St. George". The fort was destroyed in 1660 when the admiral Fransesco Morozini (the same one that bombarded the Akropolis of Athens, destroying the south side of the Parthenon) seized the fortress back from the Turks.
From the ruined battlements the Greeks bravely resisted the turkish effort to land on the island in 1823. Today, in Bourtzi almost nothing remain of the walls. The building is the old school, now turned into an exhibition hall. Its open air theatre holds music, drama and dance performances every summer during the Aegean Festival. |
| If
you are familiar with this place , please share your opinion of it with other
travelers. Write
a review! |
