Tower of Prosforio in Ouranoupolis

The tower of Ouranoupolis already existed in 1344, but it appears that it is older and was likely built on the site of a preexisting installation. In May of 1379, the “Despot” (king) of Thessaloniki, Ioannis Palaiologos, stayed here and during his stay exempted the tower from tax obligations. It must have sustained significant damage in the earthquake of 1585, followed by extensive repair works. In August of 1858 it was “empty inside and uninhabited” (apparently burned down since 1821), but in the same year extensive repair and reconstruction work commenced, which resulted in its present form.

The tower was stabilized and restored by the 10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities. During the works, the main historical phases of the structure were identified and highlighted:

• The entire bottom section of the stone-built bearing structure, except for the top two floors, belongs to the Byzantine tower. The typology and construction method could classify it among the few known examples from the 11th-12th centuries.
• The top two floors, as well as one that is lost (or at least a level of battlements) date back to the Ottoman occupation, probably after the earthquake of 1585.
• The entire wooden interior of the tower, including its present roof, belongs to the 19th century reconstruction, which appears to have been completed in 1862. There followed the construction of the external scarpa, a slanted retaining wall. Today, following the recent restoration works, the tower’s interior retains the original 19th-century structures.

A barbakas, or fortified enclosure, is attached to the towner’s eastern external wall, apparently constructed in the early Ottoman period with later repairs. The present-day residential and storage spaces inside the barbakas were created in the mid-19th century.

To the northwest of the tower stands the building of the arsanas [boatyard], built in 1865 together with the now lost dock. It consists of a semi-subterranean storage space for the metochi boat, a storage space in the mezzanine, and a residential upper floor with hayat (covered wooden balcony).

The building compound of the metochi included many other structures (warehouses, barns, an olive mill, housing for the farm workers, wells, etc.), of which only two survive, about 50 m. SE of the tower. The metochi installation of Prosforio was for many years the accommodation of the refugees who founded Ouranoupolis in 1923.

The tower complex is the property of the Greek Ministry of Culture.