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Venetian Castle Ruins, Chora
"The Tower of St. Peter is located on the slopes of the mountain under the village of St. Petros. It was built during the C3rd-4th BC but the traces of its foundation are pre-historical. The Tower has at least five levels which can be reached by a spiral staircase. The Tower is topped by a dome which today, unfortunately, is partially destroyed. It is not known exactly what function this tower served but the strongest possibility is that it was used as a beacon to send messages across the island by use of fire. During its history, it is certain that it functioned as a garrison to protect the nearby iron ore mines that existed during these times" (from in2greece.com).
On the Round Hellenic Tower
of Andros
from "The Cyclades; or, Life among the insular Greeks",
James Theodore Bent, 1885
The tower
of St Peter
itself. This foundation is about four and one-third feet
high, and * is built of colossal stones, some three, some four yards
long, and about a yard is a good average thickness. This foundation is
what
usually would be called Pelasgic, whereas the tower which is
built upon it is in a much more advanced style, having the stone
carefully levelled on the outside, and chiselled up to the very
highest
storey.
The entrance is to the south, and there are three windows
over it ; besides this the tower has three other windows or
apertures, perhaps for discharging missiles out of .The door is
exceedingly
curious, being only a yard and a half high, and made of four huge stones, two of which form the jambs and the other two
the threshold and lintel, and rather remind one of the door into
the
treasury of Atreus at Mycene in miniature. The width of the
door is one yard four inches, and the stones of the threshold and
lintel are longer than this, and project into the walls on either
side so as
to form a support. Anyone entering this door must naturally
stoop to go in, and in doing so will consequently lock down. When
he gets into the circular room inside, he will be surprised not
to see
any staircase leading up to the higher storeys ; but on
examining the doorway again he will find that there is a hole in the
ceiling of the long low entrance, like a chimney, answering a double
purpose ;
first, if an enemy who is ignorant of the construction of
this tower tries to enter, he can easily be struck down through
this aperture above him whilst he is stooping ; and, secondly, it
serves
as a staircase to the first storey, to ascend which
projecting stones for footholds are left in the sides. This curious chimney
staircase is constructed in the thickness of the wall, admitting only
one
person at a time, and it goes no further than the first
storey.
The circular room entered by this doorway is five yards
three inches in diameter, and has a vaulted roof — that is to say,
the inner part of the outer wall gradually inclines upwards to a point
like the
roof of the treasury of Atreus, caused by the overlaying of
the stones, and the top being formed by radiating slabs. The
walls on the inside are smooth, and on either side of the door are
two niches, through which a small amount of light can penetrate
; outside they are mere holes, but they increase in a triangular
form as they pierce the thickness of the wall.
On ascending the chimney staircase you reach the second storey, which is chiefly taken up by the dome of the vaulted
roof of the first storey ; and from here starts a spiral staircase,
which goes
up to the topmost storey, but of which only twenty-five
steps are now left, made of huge stones set into the outer wall, and
projecting one yard eight inches inwards ; and along it are little
niches for the
introduction of light. Up to the summit of the tower there
have been six storeys, but without a ladder it was impossible for
me to reach the summit. A window over the entrance door, similar
to it in size, lights the second storey, and in the walls are
holes in which probably beams have been placed to form floors for the
different storeys. The inner wall of the tower from top to bottom has
been constructed with much smaller stones than the outer, and
well fitted together with cement. There is no trace, as far as I
could see, of the roof. Over the window of the second storey is
another smaller window, and over that a bigger one. To the left of
this last there is a straight slab walled in as a protection to
the indow, and there are two more windows, one over the other, for the
storeys above this.
On the outer wall of the building appear four square shallow furrows running from top to bottom, which at first sight
appear to have contained drain pipes from the roof, but then they are
too
carefully executed for that; it is just possible they may
have served some military purpose of which we are now ignorant.
This tower
of Andros Bavaria ,
who bought the theatre of Melos, comes forward to rescue it, a valuable relic of the past will be
irretrievably spoiled.
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