Kefalonia Holiday Information

Assos Fortress is one of the largest Castles in Greece.
The trip to the fortress is stunning, however I wouldn’t recommend the journey by vehicle to anyone who isn’t comfortable driving in Kefalonia on roads and tracks at considerable heights. The Venetian fortress can be reached by a zigzag trail through woodland and terraces. Most of the steep track leading up to the fortress is of typical dirt track character with a large amount of loose road surface too. Some edges of the track has crumbled away. Be careful braking, a somewhat hazardous business. The tight bends make turning a little hair raising especially on the decent down. The road is very narrow and would not safely accommodate two cars passing each other, in parts it is so narrow you need to make more than one maneuver as the hairpin bends are tight.
If you are energetic and fit of course you may like to walk up, remember to take fluids, as there is no amenities at the top!
The fantastic views, which unfold, can take your mind off the trip if you are a little nervous!!
The trip up to the fortress took us 15 – 20 minutes in a four wheel drive jeep and about the same on the decent.
The photographic opportunity is well worth the climb up and down as you really do see Assos from all sides.
Tucked away in the hillside beneath the Fortress is the tiny Chapel of Panayia Plakoula.
Once at the Fortress you can drive through the entrance, otherwise known as the tunnel, you can park outside the grounds, however I observed a couple of cars parked inside the walls.
The grounds of the Fortress are quite large and the walls of the Castle measure over two kilometers in length. While wandering around it is quite easy to imagine yourself back in time.
Yet again the sea views are stunning so a camera is an essential accessory. If you love landscapes and nature it’s worth having a small pair of binoculars with you. You are free to wander the ruins which are more expansive than you may imagine from the usual views you have when observing the Fortress from the main mountain roads.
The Fortress was built back in the sixteenth century to defend the Island from Pirate attacks
Assos Fortress has never been excavated to this day.
The outside walls are not in too bad a condition, taking into account the building not only has been abandoned over half a century, but also survived the well-documented disastrous earthquake, which struck on the 12 August 1953. This cataclysmic earthquake flattened most of the fabric of the island. As the island lies close to the fault line it makes this one of Greece’s most active seismic areas, Zakynthos, Lefkas and Ithaca suffered too. When you pass through the entrance via the short curved tunnel which is still in good condition the rest of the fortress may seem a little disappointing, There is a lot of wild vegetation which has taken over and it is very difficult to locate the 200 homes and 65 public buildings which stood originally, however there are traces of the small Catholic Church dated 1604.
Towards the middle of the Fortress it is still possible to make out ruins of a prison with some cells still remaining along with parts of a Venetian building. The Destounis family lived in the fortress until 1968. There is no entrance fee to the fortress.
It is understandable why this location was later used as a prison due to its height. Standing at approx 170 meters with small passage approx 50 meters wide, this meant it was almost impossible for any prisoners to escape.