Paleokastra Castle

Did You Know?

• The castle was destroyed by the Goths in 378 AD.
• It was rebuilt thereafter together with two churches.

Structure

The walls of Paleokastra Castle belong to two building periods. The first period, dating to around 300 AD, used recycled stones from antique buildings; the wall was originally about 8 m high and 2.3 m wide, though today's remnants reach roughly 3 m in height. An army barrack from this period was found beneath the foundations of a 5th-century basilica. Two inscriptions from approximately 311–313 AD and 324–337 AD, made by the praesides Valerius Cassianus and Julius Lepidus of the province of Epirus Vetus and dedicated to emperors Licinius and Constans II, indicate that the provincial government oversaw construction. The second period used a mix of limestone and bricks. The castle has 12 square towers and two round towers on the corners, while the side facing the Drino has no towers. The main gate, on the western side, is roughly 2.9 m wide; two minor gates lie in the north and east near the Drino. Excavations in the 1970s uncovered ruins of two churches. One, a three-nave basilica inside the walls, dates to the 5th century AD, with a middle nave measuring 13 × 5.3 m and side naves 2.15 m and 2.49 m wide. The second church, outside the walls to the south, is a single-nave basilica with later added side naves, paved with bricks and featuring frescoes on its walls.