Leontario Castle #1070

Description

The castle of Leontario was founded by the Franks. Its history is linked to an older castle in the area, the castle of Veligosti, a Byzantine fortress conquered by the Franks in 1209, four years after the conquest of the rest of the Peloponnese. Veligosti became the seat of one of the 12 baronies of the Principality of Achaia.

To protect Beligosti and its strategic position (as it was at the crossroads between Messinia-Arcadia-Lakonia), the Franks built a second castle there: the castle of Leontarius. The castle hill looks like a seated lion, hence its name, which means "lion".

After the capture of Mystras by the Byzantines in 1262 and the rise of the Andegaean family to the throne of the Principality of Achaia, the Franks began to lose territory in the Peloponnese to the Greeks. Several decades of hostilities followed. The area of ​​Beligosti-Leontario, located at the border of the two states, was often the scene of battles and conflicts.In this context, and with no records of exactly what happened, Belgosti Castle was completely destroyed in 1300.(Today, the exact location of Belgosti is not known.)