Are you a good spirit, or an angel of evil, The breath of paradise, hell is the breath, To harm or to benefit your thoughts …
(Hamlet. W. Shakespeare)
The theme of locks is popular among VO website visitors, and this is not surprising at all. "Idols of the cave", as psychologists say, that is, the desire for safety within four walls absorbed with the genes of our cave ancestors, make us interested in especially "strong houses." Everyone immediately imagines that this is "his home", and this pleases his deep instincts. In addition, it is interesting to find out about the history of this or that castle, and the architecture, of course, also makes a very strong impression on many. But all the castles are interesting in their own way. And in each country they are different. And since summer has come and it's time for vacations, it makes sense to get acquainted with the castles on the islands among the warm sea, where it is pleasant to relax and, visiting them, combine business with pleasure. We have already talked about the castles of Cyprus. Now it's time for Crete!
Frangokastello castle. View from the beach. Blue mountains in the distance. Beautiful!
Everyone knows about Crete that it was the cradle of European civilization and that they played with the bull and worshiped the double ax. Someone more advanced (or interested in this topic) will remember that women there wore strange clothes that bare their breasts, but covered their stomach and back. And that such a strange fashion has never been found anywhere else!
Frangokastello Castle. View from the coast.
But … there was something there after that! And after that there was a parachute landing of the Nazis on Crete !!! But … between these events something happened there too, didn't it? And these events, in their own way, are also quite interesting, although not as significant as the above.
Frangokastello castle. View from a quadcopter. Interesting!
And it so happened that Crete, which lay on the way from Europe to Palestine, was constantly visited by the ships of the Crusaders in the Middle Ages. And, of course, the Genoese and Venetians. And the latter tried to ensure their presence on this island by building many fortresses that controlled certain parts of the coast or harbor.
View from the sea. Ready-made decoration for any movie about pirates, knights, ghosts and treasures.
Here is the castle we are interested in, or rather, a stone fort. It was built by the same Venetians in 1371-1374 to protect the southern coast of the island from pirates and to restore order in the Sfakia region. It was supposed to keep a garrison in it, which was supposed to be a "rapid reaction" force, and this fortification itself would play the role of a super-protected … "police station." The Venetians gave it the name Castle of St. Nikita, because not far from it was the church of this saint (its ruins can still be seen not far from the castle). But the locals nicknamed him "Frangokastello", which literally means "castle of the Franks." And the name Frangokastello is so for this fortress and stuck. Moreover, there is information that at first its construction went rather slowly, and all because the local residents did not like the construction very much and they, led by six brothers named Patsos from the nearby village of Patsianos, made their way to the construction site every night and destroyed what … the Venetians built for day. It is clear that the Venetians did not like this "method" of construction at all and they organized a raid on the brothers, seized them and hanged them, and not only them, but also the participants in all these nighttime outrages - one Greek for each of its loopholes (there were no teeth on the wall then was!), and it is clear that after such educational "measures" sabotage on the construction site stopped by itself.
The fortress itself has the shape of a rather narrow rectangle with four square towers at the corners.
But then something happened that happened to locks very often: it turned out to be practically unnecessary! The Venetians almost did not use it, but the Turks, who drove the Venetians, were delighted with this castle and completed the battlements with loopholes. Again, to control the area. But … again it turned out that they did not use it and in 1770 it was captured by the local rebel patriot Daskalogiannis and 70 of his associates. It is clear that after this the castle was immediately besieged by Turkish troops, which led to its surrender. After that, the Turks, according to their evil custom, began to torture Daskaloyannis (although why torture if he surrendered with all his people?), And then took him to Heraklion, where he was executed.
The gate to the castle.
Then the castle was again abandoned for half a century, until in May 1827 a detachment of one hundred horsemen and 600 infantrymen, led by Hajimikhalis Dalianis, attempted to start the war for the independence of the island from here and captured Frangokastello. This man was a wealthy merchant, that's even how, but … out of patriotic motives, he abandoned his business and, having armed a horse detachment for his day, took up the national liberation movement. The Turks, of course, immediately sent out superior forces against the rebels (8,000 soldiers led by the governor of the island Musatafa Pasha), besieged Frangokastello, and on the night of May 17 they took the castle by storm. Moreover, 335 of its defenders were killed. The Turks did not bury them, but simply threw the bodies into the ditch.
Another entrance and above it the Venetian bas-reliefs preserved from the time of construction.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, an anonymous poem was composed about the feat of these heroes of the struggle for the national independence of the island, which said: “To this day, on May 17, the detachment of Hajimikhalis is. They beat in the clouds, and the infidels hear voices and the clatter of hooves near the castle walls. Ghost soldiers can be seen and scared, but may the Lord have mercy on us, they do no harm to anyone …"
The winged lion of St. Mark.
Thus, for the first time, a message about the appearance of the so-called "dew people" was recorded. Moreover, this phenomenon has been observed repeatedly by a wide variety of people, whose opinion deserves complete confidence. They even came up with a special name for it - Drosulites, since you can see it only early in the morning, when the dew falls. This phenomenon is very strange and inexplicable: every year at the end of May, near the castle, shadows of people, foot and horse, dressed in black clothes, and with weapons in their hands, move from the church of St. Harlampius towards Frangokastello. You can only see this when the sea is calm and with high atmospheric humidity. It lasts about 10 minutes. The shadows of people are visible from the valley at a distance of about 1000 meters. Moreover, as soon as you approach them, these shadows disappear.
The remains of the Venetian coats of arms of the families Quirini and Dolphin have also survived.
Drosulites have been documented on numerous occasions. For example, in 1890, Turkish soldiers fled upon seeing these strange shadows. And during the Second World War, a German patrol of the garrison in the castle even once opened fire on them. But most of all attention to this phenomenon was paid, perhaps, by none other than General Hajimikhalis - the great-grandson of the legendary rebel, who first visited him 100 years after the death of his glorious ancestor. He was told by a local legend that Drosulites are the restless souls of the rebels of Dalianis, who were killed by the Turks asleep, whom the traitor let into the castle at dawn on May 17, 1827. Naturally, he wanted to check whether this was so and he was lucky: he saw the procession of ghosts three times! After that, he wrote a letter to Angelos Tanagras, president of the Greek Association of Parapsychology. At the same time, however, he emphasized that these shadows could not have anything to do with the events of 1827. After all, it is obvious that the people of his great-grandfather had firearms, while the shadows walked with spears, short swords and round shields. That is, it cannot be the shadow of the Romans, whose garrison was on the island, since they had rectangular shields, but not the soldiers of the Republic of St. Mark, since they also never wore round shields. Ancient Greeks? Yes, it probably is. It was also interesting that all three days that Hajimikhalis watched them, they walked in formation in the direction from east to west, from the side of the mountains across the plain, towards the castle. Moreover, sometimes they moved in close formation, or their column was thin and stretched. He thought it was something like a mirage, and Tanagras thought the same thing.
This is what the yard looks like.
They began to say that it was a mirage. But a mirage is something that happens somewhere at this time. And where at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century could warriors with shields and spears walk? And before that time, for some reason, no one had heard about this event, and then they saw this phenomenon and heard about it. And then it's not a "movie" in which the same frames are scrolled. For example, in 1924 the soldiers retreated several times and only then moved forward. Then what kind of mirage is it, if people can hear the clang of weapons, the clatter of feet and faint voices near it?
View of the courtyard from the wall. Below are the remains of barracks and storage facilities. You can also see the stage on which Shakespeare plays and concerts of national music are performed. The plays against the background of the walls are impressive …
By the way, for some reason it is not possible to photograph the “dew people”. They are not in the photographs. Only the landscape is visible!
It is clear that such a mysterious case aroused interest from not only tourists. For example, a member of the British Parliament, Ernest Bennett, came to observe the phenomenon. He knew Greek and could speak with locals without an interpreter. And they told him that once a woman was in the path of the ghosts. Everyone who watched what was happening was wondering what would happen. Will they pass through her or her shadow will make their shadows disappear. However, the ghosts seemed to see the woman and walked around her. Moreover, the column, and that time they were walking in a column, parted and those walking in it went around it someone on the right, and someone on the left, and soon after that their procession stopped, and suddenly, as if it had been turned off. They began to question the woman, but it turned out that she saw nothing and no one close up! In addition to the British parliamentarian, the ghosts were seen by the local priest and archbishop of Crete Efmenios, as well as by Foreign Minister Manusos Koundauros and his press attaché Psilakis. The latter is from a distance of only 200 meters. According to him, there were people of different heights and constitutions, but he did not see the riders. It is interesting that Bennett, although he stayed at the castle until the end of May, did not see the procession of the "dew people". They showed up the day after he left!
Entrance to the corner tower.
Now May, however, has already ended, but it happens that ghosts sometimes come until the end of June. So there is still an opportunity to see them for those who immediately go to Crete on a last minute ticket! You just need to remember that you can only observe the phenomenon while standing with your back to the mountains and looking from there at the plain and the castle spread out in front of you, in the direction of which they will go. Well, yes, the locals will explain everything to you about Drosulites!
There are no floors inside. The towers are empty.
Well, now a little about the best way to get there and about the castle itself. The capital of Crete, Heraklion, is on the north side of the island, and Frangokastello on the south. Beyond the mountain range. Therefore, it would be best to rent a car and drive it. True, there are few signs on the road and you should follow the navigator. There is one more problem: mountain serpentine. Descending from the pass to the south side, you will need to make 27 (!!!) 180-degree turns in a row on a narrow mountain road. But, of course, there is a fence, and the mountain landscapes themselves are so impressive that you even have to stop to admire them.
Note the row of artillery embrasures at the base of the wall. It was simply impossible to get to such a wall!
Parking next to the castle. Comfortable!
From a distance, the fortress looks very impressive, like a scenery from a movie. However, it does not make much of an impression up close, and inside it is a completely empty stone rectangle, in which it is always very hot in summer. No guns on the walls, no animators in medieval costumes. Although the entrance is paid - 2 euros. Moreover, it is rather small and only four corner towers and outer walls have survived. The shape is rectangular. That is, for most of our travelers there is nothing interesting in it.
Beach next to the castle. You swim and - if you have a good imagination, so directly and see the battles taking place here …
True, next to the fortress there is a very good beach with white sand and emerald-transparent water of the Libyan Sea. On the north side, a northerly wind may blow. And here the wind is mostly always south. Coastal wind is rare. Therefore, the water is very warm. So swimming after visiting the castle is a must. The traditional fee for an awning with a sunbed is 5 euros. In general, this is a trip, of course, for an amateur, but interesting!
