Rogoi
| Rogoi | |
|---|---|
Ῥωγοί | |
| Nea Kerasounta, Western Greece | |
 Gate in the citadel wall of Rogoi (2010) | |
  Rogoi | |
| Coordinates | 39°09′22″N 20°50′53″E / 39.156°N 20.848°E |
| Type | hilltop citadel |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Greek Ministry of Culture |
| Controlled by |
|
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | ruin |
| Site history | |
| Built by | Byzantine Empire |
| In use | 9th-15 century CE |
| Materials | hewn stone (ashlar) |
| Battles/wars | Philip I siege (1303/4) |
Rogoi (
Location
The castle is located west of the village of
History
The site was identified by 19th-century scholars with ancient
The new settlement of Rogoi is first attested in the
In the period between c. 1000 and c. 1500, the local inhabitants changed the course of the Louros river to its present form, aiming to drain its marshes and increase the available farmland, and possibly to enhance the protection of the castle itself, which was now surrounded on three sides by the river.[2][9]
The medieval settlement appears in historical sources chiefly in the 14th–15th centuries, when it played a role in the wars of various local potentates for control over Epirus.
In 1361, the
In 2019, the title of Bishop of Rogoi was revived and given to Filotheos Theodoropoulos, when he was elected as assistant bishop of the Archbishopric of Athens.[19]
Castle layout
For the first two centuries of its existence, Bouchetion was apparently unfortified, and the first fortification on the site consisted of a simple circuit wall of 450 m length enclosing the flat space on the top of the hill. This was later enlarged by an irregular wall enclosing the entire northern slope of the hill, increasing the length of the outer walls to 730 m and doubling the enclosed area from 9,000 to 18,000 m2. Still later the walls were again expanded to include the northeastern part of the settlement, so that in its final extent the ancient fortifications formed an outer circuit of 1,000 m and encompassed an area of 37,000 m2.[20][21]
The medieval castle extant today was built on the remains of the first two phases of the ancient acropolis, and follows the course of the ancient fortifications, incorporating their foundations.[21][22] The medieval outer circuit wall was largely built on the traces of the ancient walls, with the different styles of masonry making the two structures clearly discernible from each other. To these were added internal transverse walls, reinforced by towers, dividing the enclosed space into three baileys. The outer bailey also contained a monastery, of which only the 15th-century church of the Assumption remains. The castle's interior is now mostly ruined and overgrown with vegetation. [23] The date of the Byzantine re-fortification is uncertain, possibly from as early as the site's re-occupation in the 9th century to the 13th/14th centuries.[24]
The site has not yet been excavated, except for maintenance work on the walls undertaken in the 1978–80 period.[24]
References
- ^ Veikou 2012, pp. 286, 476, 477.
- ^ a b Brooks 2013, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Brooks 2013, p. 145.
- ^ a b c Brooks 2013, p. 146.
- ^ a b c d e f g Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 252.
- ^ Veikou 2012, p. 47.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 50–53.
- ^ Veikou 2012, pp. 311, 477–478.
- ^ Veikou 2012, pp. 286, 293.
- ^ Brooks 2013, p. 285.
- ^ Brooks 2013, pp. 193, 287.
- ^ a b Brooks 2013, p. 246.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, p. 70.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 70–71, 252.
- ^ Soustal & Koder 1981, pp. 71–75.
- ^ Brooks 2013, pp. 246, 287–289.
- ^ Veikou 2012, p. 478.
- ^ Brooks 2013, p. 152.
- ^ "Επίσκοπος Ρωγών ο Αρχιμανδρίτης Φιλόθεος Θεοδωρόπουλος". Dogma (in Greek). 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- ^ Brooks 2013, pp. 146–148.
- ^ Greek Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- ^ Veikou 2012, p. 476.
- ^ Brooks 2013, pp. 148–154.
- ^ Greek Ministry of Culture. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
Sources
- Brooks, Allan (2013). Castles of Northwest Greece: From the Early Byzantine Period to the Eve of the First World War. Aetos Press. ISBN 978-0-9575846-0-0.
- Soustal, Peter; Koder, Johannes (1981). Tabula Imperii Byzantini, Band 3: Nikopolis und Kephallēnia (in German). Vienna: ISBN 978-3-7001-0399-8.
- Veikou, Myrto (2012). Byzantine Epirus: A Topography of Transformation. Settlements of the Seventh-Twelfth Centuries in Southern Epirus and Aetoloacarnania, Greece. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004221512.
