The castle of Lamia it has stood in its place since the 5th century BC at a crucial point to watch over the valley of Sperchios, a passage that since that time has been of strategic importance as it was the only one leading to Thessaly.

Through the passage of time, it endured through all the seasons, confirming its role, even when in 1446 Lamia was occupied by the Turks. The castle remained there, it was turned into a military barracks with a strong fortification around it.

The huge walls that enclose it, have been successively repaired in many phases as they reflect interventions of various times, whether it concerns the Byzantine and medieval times, or even during Turkish rule.

“It is a monument of the city that is inextricably linked to its history. It is a point of reference and since 1984 the municipality has been trying to highlight it, make use of it and make it available to the citizens”, declared the mayor of Lamia, Thymios Karaiskos, when he was there a few 24 hours ago, inspecting the projects that are progressing on its large walls Castle of Lamia.

This is a study that was deemed necessary to be funded by the NSRF so that most of the external walls can be maintained and ensure that they will remain in place for years to come.

The project, which has a budget of 1.2 million euros, in this phase concerns the fixing of the walls and, at the same time, the fixing of the rocky slope on which the wall is based. “Anchorages will be made but also an increase in the cohesion of the rock mass with grouting and cement injections,” emphasizes the contractor of the project, Loukas Kitsos, speaking to APE-MPE. As he clarifies, the intervention on the walls of the Castle “concerns two sections of the enclosure, namely the southern and southwestern sections”, so that with the maintenance, their further deterioration will be stopped.

Although today, the mayor of Lamia k Karaiskos characterizes the Castle of Lamia as “an emblematic landmark of the city which is of particular importance for the city as such” although he characterizes it as “a conspicuous monument”, in the middle of the last century the then municipal principle was pushing in all directions to be demolished. It was saved at the last moment as the relevant permits for its demolition had even been issued.

The obsession of the then mayor, Georgios Platis, who in 1957 managed to get issued by the Headquarters of Central Greece, to which the Castle of Lamia belonged at the time, has remained legendary. his successors changed and were able to prevent such a development.

Castle of Lamia

In fact, as a member of parliament, G. Platis was promoting the idea of ​​turning it into a hotel and the relevant credit had even been found. But the government crisis of 1963 overturned the plans and Lamia Castle was saved.

“This project has to offer much more than what its budget says” emphasizes to APE-MPE the regional governor of Central Greece Fanis Spanos to add that “it is a project for culture and history. A project for the tourism development of the region, but also for the safety of the citizens” setting as a perspective “to attribute culture and history to society”.

From 1984, the municipality with mayor Lambros Papadimas undertook its rise by submitting a proposal to the then development law from which the interventions were subsidized.

In the following years, the barracks were maintained and the Ephorate of Antiquities was installed there, as well as a floor where the Archaeological Museum operates, which houses the findings of the wider area.

Castle of Lamia