Pontikokastro (Beauvoir) Castle
Pontikokastro ( el, Ποντικόκαστρο), known in French as ''Beauvoir'' and Italian as ''Belveder'' during the late Middle Ages, is a Byzantine castle in Agios Andreas, Katakolo, in the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. History The fortress of Pontikon—Pontikokastro, "castle of Pontikon", is a relatively recent name—is one of the oldest Byzantine castles in Greece. It is located in the northern part of Ichthys Bay, 100 meters from the coast, and is built on the ruins of the acropolis of ancient Pheia, dating from 700 BC. Different views have been expressed about the name, with some claiming that Pontikon derives from the ancient Greek word '' pontos'', "sea", because of its view over the Ionian Sea. Others claim it is due to the similarity of the shape of a mouse (''pontikos''). The most probable view is considered to be that of the folklorist Dinos Psychogios, that the name came from a corruption of the Latin "''fonticum''", meaning warehouse, because the castle ...
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Agios Andreas, Katakolo
Agios Andreas is a small settlement near the town of Katakolo, in Elis, Greece. It is situated on the site of ancient Pheia, at a bay opposite the islet of Ichthys or Tiganonisi and the island of Zakynthos. Agios Andreas is located 13 kilometers northwest of Pyrgos and approximately 2 km from the port of Katakolo. It owes its name to an old church, now ruined, dedicated to Andrew the Apostle, who is said to have passed from the place on his journeys. The church was built on the ruins of an ancient temple, which was rebuilt in 1930. History The ancient town of Pheia occupied the site of the modern village of Agios Andreas, most of which today lies submerged in the sea. Dating back to Homeric times, it is mentioned twice by Homer (''Iliad'', VIII.135, ''Odyssey'', XV.297, 298), Thucydides in his ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' (II.25), in Xenophon's ''Hellenica'' (3, 2, 30), Strabo's ''Geographica'' (VIII.343), as well as the works of Polybius and Pausanias. Pheia ...
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