PALIOKASTRO.

The hill above the present town of Mand­raki is crowned by the fortification wall of the ancient city of Nissyros. One of the best surviving fortifications from the Classical period in the Aegean, it was described for the first time by the archaeologist Ludwig Ross, who visited the island in 1841.
From the 8^th century BC, the ancient city of Nissyros was built on a low hill above the present town of Mandraki. It occupied the flat top and the seaward slope of the hill, ending in an abrupt precipice at the west. Retaining walls and cisterns attest that the houses of the city covered the slope. The cemeteries spread outside of the fortification.
The harbour of the ancient city was lo­cated in the fertile area, nowadays known as Limnes, which has been silted up for centu­ries. The area around the harbour, where the settlement later developed extra muros, was first inhabited in Roman times.
Public buildings and sanctuaries were lo­cated on the flat hilltop of the acropolis. The continuation of worship on the acropolis is evidenced by a large Early Christian basil­ica of the 6^th century AD, which is the sole building inside the walled city that has been partly revealed by excavation.
The fortification dates to the 4^th century BC.

It enclosed the slopes of the hill down to the seaside cliff at the northwest and extended as far as the rocky eminence, where the me­dieval castle and the monastery of the Virgin 'Spiliani' now stand. The construction of this powerful fortification might be attributed to the defence policy of the dynast Mausolus of Karia and his successors, who, for a short pe­riod of time (355-332 BC), had acquired con­trol over Rhodes, Kos and the neighbouring islands.
The best preserved part of the wall on the acropolis is 2 to 3,65 m. thick, with faces built in coursed trapezoidal masonry of local volcanic black stone (basaltic andesite) and a rubble filling. In order to reinforce its defen­sive capability, the wall was flanked by square towers, solid up to the level of the parodos (wall-walk). Six towers survive along the south part of the wall and two along the east.
The only surviving gateway in the wall is located in a recess, unseen by the enemy. For further protection, the gateway faced the corner tower of the wall, from which the defenders could fire unobstructed against would-be attackers. The gate, which survives intact, is 2.10 m. wide and 3.20 m. high. It shut with a double wooden door secured from the inside by a cross-bar. The socket in which the bar was inserted is visible on the left inner side of the gateway.

Preserved in excellent condition on the inner side of the wall are the staircases giving access to the wall-walk. On its east side there are two staircases, reaching the impressive height of 16 and 18 steps. More staircases on the south side facilitated access to the corre­sponding towers. In most cases only their base survives. In the course of landscaping the site, the staircase leading to the second south tower was brought to light, to a height of 14 steps. In Hellenistic times another staircase was added, built of local stone, which replaced the origi­nal; only the base and the first four steps of the hellenistic staircase are preserved. Restora­tion at this section was restricted in replacing 18 ancient stone blocks of the Classical period staircase and the curtain wall.

The fifth tower along the south section of the wall has two construction phases: the south part was built in the Early Hellenistic period, circa 300 BC, in order to reinforce the earlier tower of the 4^th century Be. The hellenistic tow­er, measuring 8.50 x 8.50 m., is wider than the classical one. It was constructed in the pseudo­isodomic system, with the insertion of headers at intervals between the stretchers. The im­pressive hellenistic tower stands for almost its entire height, approximately 10 metres. Both towers display significant distortions, mainly in the area where they join, caused by the pres­ence of a fault line underground.
Restoration was carried out on the south­west corner of the hellenistic tower, which was on the verge of collapse. The upper courses were dismantled and replaced. Forty-five an­cient blocks were identified and restored in their original position, while the completion of the inner face significantly reinforced the tower structure.

The second tower along the east section of the wall, 7.50 ill. high, is almost square in plan, of side approxim. 7 m. Built with an outer face of quarry-faced trapezoidal blocks of coursed masonry binding into the fill, it probably be­longs to a different construction phase. On the south wall it carries the significant inscription ~AMOIION (i.e. of the deme, of public use) TO XOPION DENTE DO~EI ADO TO TEIXE(OI). The inscription defines the minimum width, approx. 1.50 m. of the public zone around the wall, which had to remain free of any use for defensive reasons. This rare epigraphic testi­mony is dated to 350-325 BC and is an impor­tant piece of evidence for dating the wall.
Much of the tower had collapsed, primarily due to weakness of the foundation bedrock and to earthquakes. It has been restored us­ing almost exclusively the original material. Eighty-five ancient blocks were identified and replaced in their exact original position, while five were restored using new stone. The means and methods used are conventional and reversible. The restoration also included consolidation of the foundations, as well as the dismantling and repositioning of parts that had shifted or were in danger of collapse. The tower has now regained its original form and authentic structure.

Part of the curtain wall to the north of this tower had collapsed. In order to avoid further damage, the deviating part of the wall was re­stored up to a height of six courses. The corner tower and the curtain wall between this and the gate were also restored; 35 fallen blocks were replaced along the two upper courses. Thus this outstanding monument of ancient military architecture has regained some of its impressive height.

Consolidation and restoration of the an­cient city wall of Nissyros was carried out by the 22^nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classi­cal Antiquities during the period 2003-2008, with funding from the South Aegean Regional Operational Programme.
The ground around the fortification was cleared, five reconstruc­tion proposals were drafted and implemented and walking-paths were layed out, so the site would open to the public.





Text: Melina Filimonos-Tsopotou, archaeologist Anna Apostolou, architect.
Translation: Alex Doumas, Foteini Zervaki.

General plan: Nilos Pitsinos, Anna Apostolou, architects.