Tsipiana

The Tsipiana Castle is located 15 km from Tripoli, on the steep rocky hill of Goula (or Koula) at the foot of Artemision mountain. It is set above the village of Nestani and it dominates the plain of Mantineia, known in antiquity as the Argon Pedion. The choice of its position was probably influenced  by the fact that it provided an overview of the roads that connect Mantineia with the Argolid Plain.

The foundation of the castle is first mentioned in the Aragonese version of the Chronicle of Morea. According to this, the founding of Tsipiana castle was created (along with that of Mouchli) probably in the late 13th century, after the destruction or abandonment of the Byzantine castle of Nikli: at which time the population of Nikli moved here for the sake of better protection.

According to one view, the choice of Tsipiana was made on the basis that it had been already lived in during the Middle Byzantine years. Indeed there may have been habitation in the Early Byzantine centuries too – perhaps not on the rock itself, but at least in the wider region: this is indicated by the five solidi of Justinian, (545/6), which were confiscated from a resident of Nestani in 1948, and also by early Christian spolia that have been used in the main church of the monastery Gorgoepikoos, at the foot of the rock. The etymology of the word Tsipiana is uncertain, at times it has been argued to be of Byzantine, Slavic or Arvanitovlach origin.

Χρονολόγηση: Frankish/Late Byzantine periods (13th -15th centuries)

The castle was probably composed of two defensive lines, located on the eastern side of the rock. The first line of defence is on the plateau formed by the hill: today there are only a few remains of the wall. Closer in are traces of the second line of defence: in the middle of this wall are preserved the remains of a tower. The central tower/keep of the castle is located at the north-east. Both within the enclosure and outside are detected scattered remains of buildings and a cistern.

The castle is protected by law 3028/2002.

A. Bon (1969), La Morée Franque. Recherches historiques, topographiques et archéologiques sur la principauté d 'Achaie (1205-1430), Paris, Vol. 1, 182, 523-524.

W. McLeod (1972), Castles of the Morea in 1467, Byzantinische Zeitschrift 65, 353-363.

A. Ballas (2005-2006), Δύο αρκαδικά μεσαιωνικά κάστρα. Ψηλός Αηγιώργης και Τσιπιανά, Πελοποννησιακά ΚΗ’, 129-162.

B. Panagiotopoulos (1987), Πληθυσμός και οικισμοί της Πελοποννήσου. 13ος – 18ος αιώνας, Athens  (reprint), 53-59, 244, 293.

P. Sarantakis (2006), Αρκαδία. Οι ακροπόλεις, τα κάστρα και οι πύργοι της. Σιωπηλά ερείπια μιας δοξασμένης γης, Athens, 43.

T.I. Sphikopoulos (1968), Τα μεσαιωνικά κάστρα του Μορηά, Athens, 209-210.