Palamidi . . . The fortress is located on the eponymous hill of Palamidi, 216 metres high, at a point overlooking the town of Nafplio and controlling the Argolic Gulf. The hill of Palamidi, which owes its name to the Homeric hero Palamedes, seems to have been systematically fortified only in the years of the second Venetian occupation. The area of Nafplio was first conquered by the Venetians in 1470. During the period of the first Venetian rule, the Venetians strengthened and enlarged the castle of Akronafplia without occupying Palamidi. In 1540 Nafplio was occupied by the Turks. At that time Palamidi, although still unfortified, was strategically used for the first time by the vizier Kasim Pascha , who fired cannons at the city from there during the three-year siege of Nafplio (1537 -1540). The Venetians returned in 1686 and, under Morosini, reconquered the area after a bitter struggle to occupy the hill of Palamidi. The Venetians then recognized the strategic importance of many Greek ports, including Nafplio, and appreciated the location of the Palamidi Rock, which naturally protected the entrance to the Argolic Gulf. The fortifications seem to have been started by Francis Morosini immediately after the Venetians returned, but the construction of the fortress essentially took place during the days of the Venetian General Fleet Supplier Agostino Sagredo , from 1711 to 1714 made the fortification of the fortress a real achievement both in terms of fortification and speed of construction. Since then, the castle has played an important role in the history of the region. During the Seventh Turkish-Venetian War in 1715, the Turks invaded with 100 000 men. Palamidi fell into the hands of the Turks after the betrayal of LaSalle (the military engineer who oversaw it) and after the Turks had to blow up part of the fortress. It should be noted that during the Turkish occupation, Christians were not allowed to enter the fortress. The liberation of the city from the Turks began in Palamidi. After a siege lasting months, on the night of November 29, 1822, a group of 350 young men led by Staikos Staikopoulos took Palamidi. First, Dimitrios Moschonissiotis entered the fortress from the Achilles Bastion, the same bastion from which the Turks entered when they captured the castle from the Venetians. At noon the next day, after the ruined Venetian church of Saint Gerard was cleaned, a feast of thanksgiving was held and the church has since been dedicated to the memory of the Apostle Andrew, since the fortress was entered on the day of the saint's feast. Since then, the liberation of the city has been celebrated with praise every year on this day in this historic church. However, Palamidi was not only a great fortress, but also a place of famous prisons. In 1834 Theodoros Kolokotronis was imprisoned in Palamidi for 11 months along with Dimitrios Plapoutas for treason against the regency regime. Considered the site of the Kolokotronis prison, it has now reached legendary proportions and receives many visitors every day. It is a god-dark deep dungeon, 1.05 m X 0.69 m, inside the rock, which is entered by stooping. However, more recent studies, based on evidence from the period, consider the identification of this area with the prison of Kolokotronis to be incorrect and locate the hero's prison in the bastion of Miltiades. Kolokotronis is even associated with Palamidi with the legend of the 999 steps of Palamidi, since according to oral folk tradition, the thousandth step was broken by the horse of Kolokotronis. Around 1840 the Miltiadis-Bastion, which is also the largest, was converted into one of the harshest prisons for the convicts, operating there until about 1926. There was another prison in the bastion of Agios Andreas, for prisoners with lighter sentences and relatively better conditions. In 1962 Palamidi was declared a visitable archaeological site by the Greek National Tourist Board. The castle complex was restored by 1969. To date, Palamidi functions as an autonomous archaeological site with a large number of visitors throughout the year, keeping intact the image of a Venetian fortification. The fortress was designed by Giaxich and built by Frenchman LaSalle. The design of the fortress is based on a system of mutually supporting bastions, which were built in stages along the west-east axis and connected by walls. The castle's eight bastions are independent, so if one of them is occupied, the defense continues from the others. The central bastion of Saint Andrew was the headquarters and best equipped. Here is the small church of Saint Andrew, originally dedicated to Saint Gerard, the patron saint of the Sagreda family. It should be noted that the names of the bastions changed depending on the owner of the fortress. Next to the bastion of Agios Andreas, the Venetians built the bastions Leonidas and Miltiades to the north, the bastion Rober to the northwest, Themistocles to the south, and Achilles to the east . The Epameinondas bastion was completed during the Turkish occupation, while the Fokion bastion was built entirely by the Turks. The Bastion of Robert was named in honor of the French philhellene Francis Robert, who was killed in the siege of the Acropolis of Athens in 1826. A stepped climb reinforced with small loopholes leads to the fort on its NW side. This is the 1000-step stairway that, according to folklore, connects the fortress to the city. This staircase was built in its current form in the time of Otto by convicts imprisoned in Palamidi. This stairway, which was traditionally supposed to have 999 steps because the thousandth was destroyed by Kolokotronis' horse, actually has fewer steps (857) and was built by convicts in the time of Otto under his supervision of the Bavarian army. In Venetian times there were galleries connecting the fortress to the city. Visitor Information Today, access to the fortress is possible either via a road ending at its eastern gate, or via the well-known staircase located on its western side, east of the Grimani bastion. On the fortress you can admire, among other things, the imposing bastions, the historic church of Saint Andrew and the impressive cisterns, which still collect rainwater today. Of course, the view from the castle of the town of Nafplio, Acronauplia, the Gulf of Argos and the surrounding mountains is breathtaking.