Despoina Skoulariki Source: C.E.T.I. © Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace

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The castle of Anaktoroupolis, built between the years 1167 and 1170 AD, dominates on a low hill at the cove of the bay of Eleftheres. According to an inscription found inserted in the south wall, the castle was used by the commander of the imperial fleet and served as a nautical base of operations for the protection of the coastal areas of Thrace and Eastern Macedonia.
The castle is built with worked blocks of stones and a lot of plaster and is enforced with rectangular and polygonal towers. It extends over an area of 15.000 square metres, while a rampart was later added at its eastern part. Its strongest and most sumptuous tower stands on the southeastern corner of the enceinte. It has a high and narrow entrance, which was banked up right after it was erected, while a buttress was constructed to prop it up. The simple entrance gate flanked by two rectangular towers lies on the western wall of the fortress. In the interior of the castle, a high wall oriented east to west divided the space in the north and south parts.
In several periods of time, some sections of the towers and the wall underwent additional reconstruction works.