The Ottoman fort at Pylos is monumental, and comprised of an outer defensive wall and a citadel. It was built after the Turkish invasion of 1500, and apart from two brief interludes – one Venetian, one Russian, was held by the Ottoman regime until the Greek War of Independence in 1821. Even at the last lap, Ibrahim Pasha and his Turko-Egyptian army proved hard to oust, and after an initial surrender of the fort in 1821, it was reoccupied by them in 1825, and hung onto until 1828.
The first photo was taken from the citadel, which during occupation by the French in the 19th century was used as a prison. The church you can see below is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour, and was originally built as a mosque around 1573. Under the brief Venetian rule of 1675 to 1715 and during the Orloff Revolt of 1770 it served as a Christian church, and it is in this capacity that it was restored by the Greek Government between 2011 – 2015.
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Inside the citadel, and the nineteenth century prison cells.
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Looking down on the outer defensive wall and the sea-arch beyond.
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The outer walls on the seaward side. The hillside was heavy with the scent of pine trees, and cyclamen were growing everywhere among the cones and fallen castle debris.
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Inside the Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour.
Thursday’s Special: Traces of the Past Please visit Paula to see her fine view of Alnwick Castle.
Tish Farrell 
A great trace of the past, Tish!
Thanks, Sue.
Interesting tidbits of history from that part of the world which has so much history. Impeccable photography.
You are too right about the ‘so much history’. Fascinating but mind boggling when the general chronology in the local consciousness routinely begins with the Mycenaean some 1,600 years BCE.
Blue skies and a lovely church interior; a nice hit of beauty for a gloomy Friday. Thanks Tish for these images and a history lesson from a part of the world about which I know nothing. 🙂
You really must have a good camera. These are so clear and that water….Can’t be any more blue. Just beutiful.
That’s v. kind of you bc. I have a couple of little point and shoot digitals. One is a really old model Canon which I bought from ebay, because it has a proper viewfinder which is v. useful in bright sunshine, and yes it does take some good pix. It helps to be able to see what you’re snapping 🙂
Stunning!
I am more and more in love with this place that you’ve found, Tish. The images are scintillating! 🙂 🙂
I think you’d like it. There’s a sense of being off the beaten trail, yet there are still handy tavernas when you need kalimari or a cappuccino.
The light is so clear, perfect for photography and I imagine painting there too… I love the colours and composition of the first photo and the daisies clinging to life in the cracks in the wall.
Definitely a painting place, and very peaceful when we were there in late September. There’s even a lovely avenue of pines inside the fortress, leading to the church.
That sounds like a perfect photo op
Wonderful; my kind of places – and great shots. I need to tells Mrs Britain about this…
Many thanks 🙂
I appreciated these views just for the sheer wow factor and the scents – also can see the military history embedded in the geology
Hello, Laura. I wanted to bottle that pine scent and bring it home. Aaah!
Really interesting structures, the church interior is so unusual, and the natural sea wall must have been a great defence.
It was a fascinating spot all round. There are apparently similar forts all round the Peloponnese – Frankish, Venetian or Ottoman built. The Greeks had a lot of invaders to put up with.
Love it. That’s my sort of place. The color of the water is gorgeous, too.
janet
The Turks were really good at building embattlements. Acre, in Israel, is one of the old Turkish fortresses and it’s almost unassailable even today. I love the color of the water in all these pictures. It’s a miraculous color of blue. It doesn’t even look real … like something from a dream.
It did seem like a dream that blue, and I do agree about the enduring quality of Turkish forts.
Under the warm Greek sunshine, bathed in beautiful colours. Thank you, Tish. I love it.
Thank you, Paula. I’m just catching up with comments having been away. Lovely to find you here 🙂