CHÂTEAU
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Castle built by the Venetians with ramparts and watchtowers at each corner.
Built in 1371 by the Venetians to guard the southern coast of the island, this castle, which appears intact from afar, is in fact a completely empty fortress of which only the ramparts and the watchtowers at each corner remain. In 1828, during the war of independence, the Turks laid siege to this castle where partisans under the command of Hadji-Michaelis Dalianis had taken refuge. The Turks, commanded by Mustafa with 8,000 men and 300 cavalry, arrived on May 15 and lost nearly 600 men in the battle. The 385 entrenched men were massacred and buried in the sand. Mustafa's return to Hania was dramatic. He lost many men in ambushes set up by the Sfakiote. He advanced by burning the forests and at Chalara, near Agios Antonios, 1,000 of his men were killed. It is said that every year on the 17th of May, the anniversary of the massacre, the spirits rise and line up in front of the castle in the early morning to keep the memory alive. Every year, at the end of May and beginning of June, a strange optical phenomenon occurs under certain atmospheric conditions, called "drosoulites": it is believed that Cretan horsemen and soldiers, with Dalianis in the lead, are passing by on their way to the castle. It even seems, according to testimonies, that during the Occupation the German soldiers fired their rifles against these strange shadows!
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