Eleftheres

What I can see

The ancient Eleftheres was a city, whose traces are seen today south of the impressive fortress. The fortress is about 300m long and 125m wide and belongs to the best examples of fortification art of the 4th century BC. The perimeter of the walls is 860m and the north side was more vulnerable, so the fortification was stronger with towers of 4-6m high. On the east and west sides, there are gates with inner courtyards and in between, there are smaller gates. The 7 impressive square towers have 6.5 m long sides and in the holes we see today, there were beams that supported the wooden floors. Soldiers fought on them and between the ramparts and placed the heaviest weapons, such as catapults, which were invented back then and were continuously used until the 15th century and the invention of gunpowder. Foundations of previous buildings are also preserved.

What I can't see

The newest common name of this isolated fortress is “Gyftokastro” (i.e. Gypsy Castle in Greek). In ancient times, however, it was the fortress of the ancient city of the Eleftheres, which sometimes was an ally of Boeotia and others of Athens. From the 6th century onwards, however, the city was an ally of Athens and according to legend, it was the birthplace of god Dionysus, who was worshiped under the nickname “Elefthereus”. The fortress was built by the Athenians, to control the roads to Boeotia and the mountains of Oenoe.

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