The castle of Panteli
The
Castle of Panteli, an important medieval monument of Leros, is located on the
east coast of the island, on the Pitis (Apityki) hill, between the villages of
Platanos and Agia Marina. The two inner enclosures of the first building phase
of the castle date to the middle Byzantine period. The previous confirmed
chronology before the construction of the castle is the year 1087, when a chrysobull issued by
Emperor Alexios I Komnenos , granted half of the castle to Christodoulos
Latrinos, founder of the Monastery of John the Theologian in Patmos, on behalf
of the Monastery of Our Lady Kastrianon of Kos. The existing Byzantine walls of
the castle were repaired by the Hospitallers from the late 15th to early 16th
century, and a new external enclosure was built, which fully complied with
the requirements of the established use of firearms. The coats of arms of
knight as Magisters scattered around the castle attest to the care of the Hospitallers
to strengthen it.
Five churches still survive inside the walls, including the church of Our Lady
of the Castle. The temple, built in the late 17th century after the miraculous,
according to tradition-appearance of the icon of the Virgin Mary in the gunpowder store
of the castle, now houses the
Ecclesiastical Museum of Leros.
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