BOURTZI
- HOME OF EXECUTIONERS IN GREECE -
G'day folks,
This 15th-century island
fortress later served as home to the executioners no one wanted to live
near.
An executioner’s
life is not an easy one. The men who spent their days carrying out the death
sentences of the criminals incarcerated in the Greek prison of Palamidi in the
latter half of the 19th century lived alone on an island, because most people
did not want to live near them.
The imposing
island fort of Bourtzi off the coast of Nafplio was home to executioners for
several decades, after it stopped serving a military purpose. Bourtzi, meaning
tower in Turkish, was built by the Venetians, invaded by the Turks, and is now
a part of Greece.
When the
Venetians, in the 15th century, discovered the strategic importance of the
small island, situated right near the Nafplio port, they built a fortress in
the shape of an imperfect hexagon to match the shape of the narrow landmass.
The stairs were made movable in the 3-storey tower structure, and cannons and
flamethrowers were positioned such that they could be unleashed at short
notice.
A major threat at the time came from the
pirates wandering the nearby seas. But the fort eventually fell, in 1715, into
the hands of the Ottoman Turks, who went on to strengthen the fortification
even further. They also dropped hundreds of large stones in the surrounding
waters, to ensure that no big ships could reach the island.
During the
time of the Greek Revolution, between 1821 and 1832, it was won back by the
Greeks, who used it to shelter their leaders from the chaos that was taking
over the rest of the land. When the strife subsided, Bourtzi was no longer
required as a defensive fortress, and the executioners were housed there for
the second half of the century.
If the people
in the 19th century had qualms about living near these men, 20th-century
tourists had no such misgivings about staying in the very spaces previously occupied by them.
The fortress was converted into a hotel in the 1930s, functioning all the way
till the 1970s.
After serving in all
these different roles, it now sits empty aside from visits by curious tourists
wanting to see the vacant castle and its great views of the city, and the music
festival occasionally held there.
Clancy's comment: Looks like a fascinating place. Make a great writer's retreat.
I'm ....
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