Kos Town, Kos - Castle Neratzia

Castle Neratzia was the largest fortification Hospital on the island of Kos , but they also possessed castles Pyli on a high rocky peak in Antimahia and Kefalos .

Like other fortresses of the defensive system of the Knights of St. John, Kos Castle was to ensure the safety of Christian pilgrims and travelers en route to the Holy Land, against the Ottoman attacks and hacker attacks.

At the time of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John, the castle and the town was called Narangia, a Latinized form of Neratzia, close to the Spanish "naranja" and the Italian "arancia."

The fortress is situated in a strategic location at the entrance of the Gulf of Keramos (Κεραμεικός κόλπος), the Gulf of Ceramic or today, Turkish, Gökova Korfezi. In association with the Castle St. Peter of Halicarnassus on the coast of Asia Minor (now Bodrum in Turkey), located about 20 km north-west of the castle controlled the straits between Kos Kos and Halicarnassus and the sea route between Constantinople and Alexandria.

Neratzia fortress was located about 128 km northwest of Rhodes , the seat of the Knights of St. John . Cos Castle was the largest defense advanced Rhodes.

After the attacks of the Turks against Kos Castle in 1457 - under the magisterium of Jacques de Milly - and in 1477 - at the beginning of the Magisterium of Pierre d’Aubusson - the first fortress was reinforced Kos, including the construction of earth- full.

After the first siege of Rhodes by the Ottomans in 1480 - where the Turks used cannons gunpowder - and the destruction caused by the earthquake of 1493, the Knights of Rhodes decided to strengthen Kos Castle building a second enclosure on three sides of the initial fortress. This outer wall was built, starting in 1495, under the Grand Masters Magister Pierre d’Aubusson (1476-1503) and Emery d’Amboise (1503-1512), and completed under the magisterium of Fabrizio del Carretto (1513-1521 ).

The two enclosures were separated by a wide gap sec (5). They passed from the outer to the inner fortress by a bridge that crossed the ditch slope. Access to the castle was through a single door (6) which led to a drawbridge. The entrance was protected southwest by a powerful stronghold, stronghold Carretto (8). Northwest another bastion, the polygonal bastion Aubusson (3), guarded the entrance to the harbor.

For the construction of the fortress, the Knights Hospitallers made ​​use of local stone, but also materials taken from the ruins of the ancient Greek and Roman city of Kos , and the ruins of the Asclepeion , a sanctuary located on a hill neighboring Kos destroyed. This produces a curious mixture of ancient inscriptions and medieval shields.

The appearance of the castle Neratzia is not as spectacular as other fortresses built by the Knights Hospitallers, started a little later than the Castle St. Peter at Halicarnassus , and on a smaller scale, Kos Castle is However, a superb example of the defense architecture of the Order of St. John.

Under Italian rule moat of seawater have been filled and turned into the boulevard, Boulevard of the Palm-trees. A fixed bridge now connects the Plane-tree Square at the entrance of the castle.

In the urgency of completing the work of fortifications, the Knights Hospitallers of ancient materials used it: over the door - lintel marble - is a great frieze Hellenistic festooned with masks and bulls’ heads; these probably come from a theater because these masks were commonly used in the ancient theater. Above the frieze is the badge of the Grand Master Emery d’Amboise .

The construction of the outer fortress was started by Pierre d’Aubusson in 1495, pursued by Emery d’Amboise and completed by Fabrizio del Carretto in 1514 with the southwest bastion that bears his name.

The polygonal bastion Aubusson (3) - north-west - was probably the first to be built bastion. Work began in 1489 with the intention of protecting the north side of the castle and the harbor entrance.

The Bastion is a stronghold of Carretto powerful round, very similar to Carretto bastion of the fortifications of Rhodes also built under the magisterium of Fabrizio del Carretto (1513-1521). The crest Carretto is sealed into the wall of the bastion.

In the north ditch is an old building built by the Knights Hospitaller and restored during the Italian domination of Kos. It is now used as a museum of architecture where you can see votive altars, various sculptures and inscriptions, and architectural elements found in the area. The gap itself has an open-air exhibition.

This ancient castle was completely destroyed to make way - from 1451 - the inner fortress we see today. The construction of the inner wall was built under the Magister of Jean de Lastic (1437-1454), the Italian count and Brother Hospitalier Fantino Querini Stampalia Count (Astypalaia), being the Venetian governor of the island of Kos (1436 -1453), then under the magisterium of Jacques de Milly (1454-1461).

The inner fortress was a rectangle with circular towers at the corners, that among these towers, those of the south-west (8), Northwestern (9) and Southeast (7) are well preserved, the latter being almost incorporated in the outer wall, and the north-east tower was completely destroyed, and the next section of wall.

On the upper part of the masonry, we can see many patches of Grand Masters of the Order of St. John of the fifteenth century.

June 3, 1457, the island of Kos was attacked by an Ottoman army of 156 ships and 16,000 soldiers, after 23 days of siege, the Ottoman army left the island for reasons unknown. In 1480, during their generalized attack against the Knights of Rhodes, the Ottomans failed to conquer the fortress Kos.

The ceiling of the corridor door consists of ten columns of basalt placed transversely; these columns probably came from the ruins of the early Christian basilica port (Βασιλική του λιμένος) destroyed by the earthquake of 469, then the 554 .

In June 1522 the Sultan Suleiman besieged Rhodes also sent troops to Kos Castle and St. Peter (Bodrum), mainly to ensure that these fortresses could not send aid to the main fortress of the Knights . At the end of December 1522, the Knights of Rhodes capitulated and also had to withdraw all their other fortresses they left Kos in January 1523.

During the Ottoman occupation of the island, the castle housed a Turkish garrison, shops and a magazine, it was also the residence of the Ottoman governor of the island. Much of the castle was damaged in an explosion of the powder magazine March 17, 1816.

In May 1912, Kos was freed by Italian troops at the end of the Italo-Turkish War. During the Italian domination of the island, the castle was garrisoned then it was restored and traces of Turkish influence were removed to enhance the character of the medieval castle.

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 8 am to 14: 30 pm (closed on Mondays).

Telephone: 00 30 224 202 8326

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