Castello di Damouchari

The castle probably dates after the 10th century, as it constitutes a typical Byzantine fortress, which might have been also used by the Venetians, when they took advantage of the port of Damouchari for some time. According to Kostas Liapis, the castle of Damouchari must have been fully operational during the 11th century.

On the hill of the castle there has not been any remarkable surface evidence found in the past, which makes it very difficult to attempt the castle identification with any ancient settlement. This fact, combined with the absence of any archaeological study and research, leads us to believe that we can only make assumptions about the identity of the castle and the role it had in the wider region. Today, on the hill of Damouchari one can see the few remains of the castle, which constitute witnesses of a past that we do not quite know. The walls surrounding the round and rocky hill of the castle are still visible. In the inner courtyard of the castle there are buildings and new interventions of the past century, which have nothing to do with the original function of the fortress. In the NW side and on the side of the port of new Damouchari, there is a standing building, next to which rise the ruins of an older building, the Turkish customs. Finally, the ruins of a third building stand out on the hilltop. In the center of the west side of the castle, where the walls rise in very good condition, the old cistern of the castle is preserved attached to them in a rectangular parallelepiped shape sized 4m in length and height and 2m in width.

The area inside the castle is now covered with olive trees and oaks. Apart from the walls that are visible, the west side of the castle, its southwest corner, as well as its cistern are still there to be seen. The walls are built with unequal irregular stones, carved with great art and care. The building method used is the method of rubble masonry, wherein lime mortar mixed with tile fragments has been used as a connecting material.

source http://volosinfo.gr/en/item/damouchari-castle/