Towering over Thessaloniki, for over 1,000 years, stands the Eptapyrgio, the Fortress of Seven Towers. It was first constructed during the Byzantine era (330AD to 1453AD), although this most recent version was rebuilt by the Ottomans after they subjugated the city in the 1400s. It goes by a few names: Eptapyrgio, Heptapyrgion, and Yedi Kule, all of which mean Fortress of Seven Towers: it's a bit of a misnomer though, as the fortress actually has 10 towers. During the 1890s the fortress was converted into a prison - for a long time it was the main penitentiary facility of the city and housed all convicted, regardless of sex or crime.
To Greek people, Eptapyrgio is haunted by memories of turbulent periods of recent history. The fortress held political prisoners during troubled times: the fascist dictatorship of 1936; the years of Nazi occupation and the civil war that followed it; the seven-year long military junta that began in 1967. Those interned there faced awful conditions: torture was common, and hundreds of inmates were executed at an infamous spot not far from the fortress.
After the prison closed in 1989, restoration and archaeological work began on the site.
We took the bus to get there, but walked back. The bus deposited us here by a section of the 4 km-long walls of the old city, popularly known as Ano Poli. These walls surrounded the city during the Middle Ages and until the late 19th century when large parts of the walls, including the entire seaward section, were demolished by the Ottoman occupiers. The city was fortified from its establishment in the late 4th century BC, but the present walls date from the early Byzantine period, around 390AD.
Eptapyrgio facing us. The new addition to the fortress, we found out later, is where the women's prison was situated.
We entered here and were advised to turn left to see the isolation cells first.
There was a creepy feeling entering these. You could almost sense the presence of the prisoners as you walked past the iron doors of the cells and into the dark, cold solitary confinement wing. For me, it vividly brought back the seven years of the military dictatorship, and the constant fear that was part of our lives. I remember so clearly getting ready for school one day, walking to the gate of our garden, to be greeted by this eerie silence - no one in the street, no cars, nothing. A lone pedestrian who went past advised me to go back inside, which I did. And then, the censored news on the radio...
Through the underground news we would hear about the arrests, the imprisonments, the torture. Most of the torture in Athens occured on the terrace (the famous Terrace) in the headquarters of the security police at Bouboulinas, which was almost next to the Epigraphical Museum where my father was director. I had to think of that every time I visited.
Later, when I was married to Nikos, we would go to underground clubs, called 'boites' where they would play and sing revolutionary, anti-dictatorship songs. Very risky, dangerous, but we needed this, it was our sustenance. Terrible, dark years.
Some of the songs we would listen to were by Mikis Theodorakis. You can read about his work and listen to some of the songs here and here (the second song The Slaughterhouse refers to the 'Terrace'.
tiny cells, as you can see, just the space for a body.
These new buildings were built to fulfill the various needs of the fort's new role.
We climbed up the stairs and were able to get a fuller view of the site
and the two contrasting units that make up the site: the Byzantine fortress and the most recent constructions of the prison. The recent buildings include: the men's prison, the women's prison, military prison, auxiliary buildings, visiting area, central guardhouse
and the church.
This is where the archaeological/restoration work is being carried out
We walked down to the central area again, to have a look at the church.
Inside, two women were cleaning
Now, the Greek church, in its misogynistic thinking and practice, prohibits women entering the inner sanctum - this is drummed into little girls from an early stage. No women allowed in there. So, I asked these women if they were meant to clean in there as well. They said, 'yes'. 'But, women are not allowed in there', I replied. 'We get special dispensation', they said.
Need I say more? Women not allowed, unless the dirty work needs doing, in which case, they are allowed to just do that.
We then climbed up these steps
the sea, the harbour, and somewhere there, our hotel
the houses with the red roof tiles, are in the Ano Poli, the old town
another view of the site
the back of the church
We had arrived at Tower P3, the centre of the fort which is arranged symmetrically around it.
We retraced our steps and left the Eptapyrgion, eager the explore the Ano Poli, the Upper Town.
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