Karytaina

Karytaina rises above the Alpheios River near its meeting with the Lousios. Its castle crowns a steep rocky hill, built in the thirteenth century by Geoffrey of Briel, a Frankish baron of the Principality of Achaea. The stronghold commanded approaches between the Arcadian plateau and the western plains, while a stone bridge carried travellers across the river below.

The Byzantines recovered Karytaina in 1320, and the Ottomans took it in 1460. After a period of Venetian rule, the town returned to Ottoman hands in 1715 and prospered as a district centre and market, even as the old castle fell into disrepair. During the Greek War of Independence, Theodoros Kolokotronis restored the fortress and used it as a base and a place of refuge.