Turkish Forts (Koules)

During the Cretan Revolution of 1866-1869, the Ottoman Empire was forced to send several pashas in Crete, but the effort proved fruitless. The latest Pasha sent to the island was Avni Pasha, who faced the continuing resistance of the Cretans and decided to change his operational tactics.

Thus, the measures he took were:

He provided political protection to those who declared allegiance to the muftis.
The Turkish fleet ruled the northern coast of Crete, so as to stop supplies coming from Greece.
Put a price on the Cretan rebels, with 500 ottoman pounds each.
He settled Kurds and Circassians to the island, in order to strengthen the Muslim population.
He designed an entire system of large and small towers (called koules) in prominent locations throughout Crete, in order to fully control the island.

Specifically, Crete was divided into five provinces, the governors of which undertook the construction of koules. The koules were built on high hills, crossroads, ports, passages and their guards spied the rebels and the transporting Christians. They intercommunicated (with fanfare or fire) in case of an emergency and delivered the alert message serially to the main camp (called Kiesle). The effectiveness of Koules was devastating for the Cretans, as they could no longer easily intercommunicate.

The Cretans reacted actively during the erection of the towers, harassing the builders, destroying the buildings in the evenings or destroying lime furnaces, from where the Turks supplied lime for building. Nevertheless, Avni Pasha managed to complete his project by using experienced Bulgarian and Armenian craftsmen, who until August 1868 had built more than 60 koules and 2 months later this number increased to 150.

As mentioned, the Turks called these towers koules, after the Turkish kule. The only difference between them and the rest towers of the island is that koules were built by the state, rather than by private feudal lords and onwers (mainly Venetian).

The Cretans, while trying to free themselves, destroyed several Koules, many of which do not currently exist. However, dozens of areas on Crete have relevant place names (koule or pirgos (tower)), that implies the former existence of towers. Due to the large number of the Koules, here we will not deal with all of them, but a few that still exist.

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The Turkish forts of Fodele

Fodele area was a very important passage during the Venetian and Turkish Era, which made the occupiers build towers and forts at almost every peak. The Turks wanted to fully control the passage of Fodele and simultaneously monitor the bay (the current beach of Fodele), where the Greek ships often beached for supporting the rebels.

Fort Kouledaki by Agia Roumeli

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The mountainous and inhospitable province of Sfakia hosts several small and large koules, ie Ottoman towers, which was built by the Ottomans to control this revolutionary area. One of the most unknown forts lies in ruins in the mountains west of the gorge of Samaria and you can reach it via the trail of the known Koules of Agia Roumeli.

Vathiakos Koules

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At the eastern edge of the valley of Amari, two towers were built, the Koules of Vathiakos and Lochria. The Koules of Vathiakos, built on the hill south of the village, served a dual purpose. First, it controlled the passages to Messara.

Kazarma fort at Episkopi

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Above Episkopi, province Ierapetra, we meet one Ottoman Tower (Koules), one of the many built in 1868 by the ottoman Avni Pasha. The defensive tower was built there to control the passage of the isthmus of Ierapetra.

Malia Koules

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South of Malia rises a small mountain which locals call Kouledes. Its name is taken after the Turkish fortresses (koule) built by the Ottomans to control the fertile plain of Malia. The Turkish forts of Malia had eye contact so as to communicate in case of emergency. Although they have almost been completely destroyed, the existence of so many fortresses in such close distance indicated how important the plane of Malia and the surrounding passages were for the Ottomans.

Vamvakades Koules

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At the wider area of Kandanos, the Ottomans built four towers with loopholes to protect themselves from the rebels. Traces of one tower are still preserved above the village of Vamvakades, while the towers at Anisaraki, Nychteriano and Koufalotos have not survived. The tower of Vamvakades was built at an altitude of about 1040 m., being the tower with the highest altitude in Crete.

Koules of Vamos

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One of the many koules (Turkish towers) built by the Turks in Crete that is completely unknown is that of Vamos. It is located atop Koules hill above the village of Vamos and is very hard to reach and identify. Almost nothing survives from this fort apart from the foundations and some scattered piles of stones that once formed part of the walls. The vegetation has covered the area and in some years there will be nothing visible from the fort of a bygone era.

Kastella Fort at Loutro

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Most visitors of Loutro know about the fortress of Koules, which even today dominates over the village.However, they are unaware of the existence of a second fortress which is very easily accessible. The fortress of Kastella is located south of the village and next to the harbor where the big ships from Chora Sfakion stop.

Koules of Potami

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Just above the reservoir of the dam Potami still dominates the ruined Koules (Turkish Tower) of Potami, built in the period 1866 to 1869. It has been declared a protected monument, because it is an important sample of castle architecture and is inextricably linked to the history and memories of the area during the Ottoman occupation of Crete in the 19th century.

Koules

Turkish Forts (Koules)

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