By Nikolas Bardis

Kos, the third largest island of the Dodecanese, in addition to its great natural beauty, has a rich history and great historical monuments. The island is literally full of cultural treasures: prehistoric remains, Roman monuments, Byzantine settlements and Ottoman mosques.

Kos is internationally known as the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, and is often described as a great “open air museum”. And not without reason, we would say! In this article we will take a walk to the three separate castles of the island, which have stood proudly for centuries. So, if you’re a history buff, find yourself on the island and want to take a “journey back in time”, here are three places worth visiting!

The Castle of the Knights

Arriving in the town of Kos, right at the entrance of the port, you will see the famous Castle of the Knights or Castle of Nerantzia, as it was called in the past, as at the beginning of the 15th century the island was overgrown with orange and lemon trees. The castle in question was built on the remains of an ancient fortress. Its construction was started by the Knights of Saint John in the 14th century, due to delays caused by Turkish raids in the area. The Castle has a double wall and until the beginning of the 20th century was an islet, as it was separated from the mainland by a seawater moat. There today we find the beautiful Avenue of Palms, over which there is still the bridge that connected the castle to the mainland.

The Castle of Antimachia

Leaving the town of Kos, we make a stop in Antimachia, specifically 4.5 km. southeast of the village, where there is an exceptionally well-preserved Medieval Castle. This is the famous Castle of Antimachia, dating from the Late Middle Ages. It is built on a plateau, and has a panoramic view of the south side of the island. It has a triangular shape and follows the morphology of the ground. Today, within the walls we find ruins of the old settlement of Antimachia, many cisterns and two churches: a Byzantine church of Agios Nikolaos from the 16th century and a chapel of Agia Paraskevi, dating from the 18th century. According to written evidence from the 14th century, the castle, in addition to being a fortress, also served as a prison for condemned knights.

The Byzantine Castle State at Pyli

For the end, we left the Byzantine castle town in Pyli. The castle is located 3 km. southeast from the current settlement and is “perched” on top of a hill, 300 meters high. This beautiful castle town dates back to the 11th century. A.D. According to the life of Osios Christodoulos, when he arrived in the area, it was uninhabited. So he decided to settle there and build a castle and a monastery. So when he left for Patmos in 1088, the area was now a whole settlement, buzzing with life. Today, the ruins that exist in the era reflect the grandeur of the glorious past.