The War Towers of the Mani
read time: 5 mins
“Quick! Pull up the ladders, fire up the oil!” the captain shouts. As the men scramble up the floors of the war tower, they thrust their long rifles through the loopholes to fire on the attacking clan already in the courtyard below. “There’s old Papadokos and two of his sons! Die, all of you! Die!” Victory or Death!” he yells.
Such scenes were repeated in over 800 war towers spread across the rugged Mani peninsula over two hundred years well into the nineteenth century. Sometimes the enemies were foreign invaders, Franks, Turks, Venetians or pirates seeking captives to sell into slavery. Just as regularly they were a rival clan seeking revenge for a social slight or grabbing more land and resources. It is no wonder Mani is known for violent vendettas and a combative nature. Sons here are literally called, “guns.” It took 400 Greek Army soldiers in 1870 to put down the last clan battle.
Today most of the towers stand empty as lonely sentinels in abandoned villages or on craggy outcrops. Some have been restored and occupied. Five are linked in a consortium of museums, and a few have been converted into tourist hotels. One near me is for sale at €1.5M, drawbridge included.
Ranging up to 6 storeys, the tallest is 25 meters (82 feet). Square in shape, their foundations were typically up to five feet thick tapering to 2.5 feet at the top. Most were erected without scaffolding because of the scarcity of wood but also to prevent attackers using the framework for scaling ladders. They are built with dry stone construction meaning the stones are placed so carefully that little mortar was needed. Clan chieftains restricted the height of the towers of their subordinates. One legend says 400 men once built a tower overnight to surprise their neighboring rivals.
Langada
Kitta
Flomochori
Kastania
There are three types: standalone structures to control strategic points, fortified houses with residential quarters, and windowless purely defensive citadels. Elements include small or elevated entries to slow attackers, firing loopholes, and turrets with murder holes to drop stones and boiling oil on the enemy. Their flat tops served as artillery platforms; some still have sizeable rusty cannons in place. Walled compounds around the tower might include storehouses, cisterns and olive oil presses. The towers, houses, walls and pavements are all stone. Urban warfare in the rock canyons of the narrow streets was deadly. You weren’t going to punch through a wall to get to the next street.
It seems unbelievable that there are so many, but the more I travel the area, the more I think 800 is a conservative number. Every village has a stronghold with a dominant tower and often two or three more. To defend against attacks from the sea, most villages are on high bluffs with good lookouts, on mountainsides, or tucked into folds of the landscape hidden from sight.
Tower Defensive Features
1. Turrets which, because they protrude from the walls, allow defenders a view of or shot at any attacker who has positioned himself against the wall of the building.
2. Firing loops.
3. A window quickly protected from incoming fire by erecting a stone ‘turret’ on the two (sometimes three) stones protruding from beneath the window.
4. Similar to the above but permanent.
5. Same as point 3 but without being blocked up for war. The stones needed to build the turret would be kept inside the tower.
6. Usually built over a doorway of a vulnerable part of the building, this feature allowed defenders to pour boiling water or similar on attackers or to simply fire down on them.
7. Small doorways made it more difficult for intruders to enter.
WHO ARE THE MANIOTS?
The Maniots, who built these towers, claim descent from Spartan warriors and the Byzantine nobles known as the “Niclanoi” who contributed a proud sense of independence. Although great efforts were made to contain them, no invaders ever conquered them. “Victory or Death” is inscribed on their flag over a blue cross on a white field above the Spartan exhortation “With it or on it” meaning with your shield or on it–return with honor or dead. Maniots would have scoffed at “Freedom” or death as they never considered themselves anything but free.
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MANIOT WOMEN
In such a male dominated society, Maniatisses were expected to take on domestic responsibilities to include tending the hard-scrabble fields. But they also had combat skills and defended the war towers if the men were away during an attack. The most impressive example of their ferocity was at the Battle of Diros, June 1826 during the Greek War of Independence.
Stalled on the western access to Mani at the Wall of Verga, the Ottomans attempted an end run intending an amphibious landing with 1500 soldiers in the Deep Mani. As the soldiers disembarked in the surf, 300 women charged down from the cliffsides brandishing sickles, stones and sticks. After vicious hand-to-hand combat the fleet withdrew leaving hundreds of dead bodies floating in the waves. Today a bronze statue of the Maniatissa Heroine commemorates the event. She stands glowering over the bay, raised sickle in hand. The inlet below is named Mafrovythos, the “black sea bottom.”
IF YOU GO
Like a broken dagger thrust into the sea, Mani is the middle peninsula of the three fingers sticking out into the Mediterranean at the southern shore of the Peloponnese. Myths relate that the entrance to Hades was through a cave at its tip. Today hospitality has replaced hostility.
Having lived here for six years, I find that Greece, The Peloponnese by Andrew Bostock in the Bradt series is the most useful guidebook. Most of the towers are in Deep Mani with notable concentrations in Vathia, Kitta and Lagia.
Although July can be intensely hot, May through October is the most amenable time to visit, but at any time you will want a car. Western Mani offers the most accommodation. However, Deep Mani is where you will find tower hotels to include:
- Pirgos Mavromichali, the former “palace” of Petros Mavromichalis in Limeni
- Tainaron Blue Retreat, upscale resort near Vathia
- Citta dei Nicliani, Kitta, known for its restaurant
Mic is a travel writer living in the rugged Mani of Greece. He holds a BA from Yale University and an MBA from the University of Chicago. Among other stations during his career in the Army, he served two tours in Germany.
Article originally published on the Stars and Stripes website
Congratulation and thank you Sir. You made a beautiful and absolutely pleasant work ! As a descendant of Maniots I thank you ! Best regards