When you visit Kos for vacation it is worth to rent a car and spend at least one day touring the island. And when you drive near the middle of the island, near Kardamena, and you favour natural landscape and historical sites over cosy restaurants then you will love to visit Antimachia Castle.It was still quite hot by the seaside but when we reached the top of the hill we felt a cold strong wind. The place was almost empty and scary. My wife stayed in the car with our 8-month old daughter, and I went up with my 3.5 yr son. That was a good choice, as my boy enjoyed the ruins a lot but it was definitely not suitable for any younger child (strong wind! sharp rocks, dangerous high walls).The road ends with a large parking just below the massive castle outer walls. There are wooden stairs that lead to the inner castle, we passed a ticket boot which was closed, so the access was free, but maybe they sell tickets or offer guide service in high season?After you enter the inner castle the area is rather flat and there are paths to walk among the ruins. It is really large area of broken rocks cut with pathways, I felt like walkin ancient streets (these paths) between just recently crushed buildings - the mostly regular areas of stones, some stones still forming fragments of walls and others looking like they collapsed inside the building. It was late afternoon and the light was amazing, but the wind was cold and strong! We were walking for about half an hour and after I stopped the initial feeling weird in this windy and empty ruis I started sensing the beauty of this place and was regrating that I coulnd not stay there any longer.
Durante i nostri spostamenti in scooter scorgevamo dall'alto le mura possenti di questo castello e così siamo andati a visitarlo. esteriormente è molto carino e imponente, e all'entrata si è accolti da un signore in costume tradizionale molto simpatico....peccato che una volta entrati ci si ritrova in una struttura completamente abbandonata con vegetazione incolta, e due chiesette, una solamente aperta. Si gode di una bella vista sulla costa e sull' entroterra che trasmette molta tranquillità. Peccato per lo stato di abbandono in cui si trova, ma merita comunque una visita.
...όχι από το μνημείο βέβαια! Αυτό εξακολουθεί να στέκει περήφανο! Ντροπή η εικόνα της εγκατάλειψης που αντιμετωπίζει ο επισκέπτης. Πόρτες ανοικτές, ξεχαρβαλωμένες ξύλινες περιφράζεις, εγκαταλελειμμένα περίπτερα, σπασμένοι φωτισμοί. Πόσο θα στοίχιζε η λειτουργία του ως αρχαιολογικός χώρος άραγε?
We have visited the castle countless times whilst staying at Mark Warner's Lakitira resort, about 90mins walk away. The castle is best approached from Kardamena climbing up a steep purpose-built paved path ( the so-called "yellow brick road" ) either on foot or mountain bike. The base of the path is half a mile north of Kardamena and difficult to find - it is not signposted, but is obvious on satellite mapping. It is clear alot of EU money was spent 10-20 years ago but there is little sign of any subsequent upkeep. The entrance gate and adjoining walls are the best preserved, but once inside its a bit disappointing as there are no remaining buildings. Walking the walls is worthwhile and great views to the east coast and Kardamena. Good place for a picnic. The castle is open, unattended with no facilities and hence free to enter, though we have only been there in may, sep and oct. There is often an old guy in traditional greek dress for you to take photos with, his party trick is to stand precariously on his chair. There are no information boards. The castle could be so much better if some information were provided and the internal grounds excavated, although its current lack of commercialisation adds to its charm. Worth a half day trip. If driving from kos town, dont miss the Peacock Forest just the other side of the airport - a cool forested valley with its own extensive population of wild peacocks and ferral cats.
Ho visitato il castello quando il tramonto cedeva il passo al crepuscolo. Una struttura imponente e meravigliosa è apparsa davanti ai miei occhi già a qualche centinaio di metri di distanza. Commozione nel pensare alla battaglia di uno sparuto gruppo di greci contro i turchi che vide inspiegabilmente la vittoria dei primi; commovente vedere la buona conservazione esterna, solo dal lato della strada, con i suoi merli e transetti possente; commovente, ma in senso negativo, lo stato di completo abbandono in cui versa: il portone d'ingresso rimane sempre aperto, anche di notte e il monumento rimane alla mercé di chiunque; l'erba cresce alta all'interno; la manutenzione non esiste; la chiesetta aperta è piuttosto disastrata. Perché non lo valorizzano, difendono, salvaguardano e... non lo mettono a sistema, facendo pagare il biglietto d'ingresso?
nice view but the place is neglected. f you have time you can visit this place but is not enough interesting to get there specialy.
we cycled down from kos town well worth the trip spent about 2 hours there the castles really big inside theres an old church a few hundred years old great paintings on the walls on the whole well worth a visit
This is worth a visit if you love history and castles (which I do) It looks impressive when you drive up there but when you get inside it is in ruins and there is no entrance fee or facilities. Vies from mountain top are stunning and there a a couple of pretty churches. A great place to imagine what life was like around c1400 as it must have been a huge place like a fortified village. There was this old guy dressed in traditional Greek costume guarding the entrance. It reminded us of the scene in Indiana Jones Last Crusade with the knight standing guard 'Only the penitent man will pass'. We gave him a few euros and took his picture. Take a bottle of water tough as it gets very hot and it can be windy. Pity they don't make more of it.
tip for walkers - if you stay in Kardamena, you can make nice halfdaywalking trip to Antimachia castle, medieval ruin with great view over the central part of Kos island. the route is completely unsigned, but you can easily follow the old broken dusty road from centre, pass carefour supermarket and go further in direction to centre of island. on the first t-junkction turn right, follow the old road to the last village houses, here turn left in another t-junkction, pass small pasture and two or three agricultural storage buildings. here starts the EU magic. on the right you see a big EU sign written only in Greek, without marking any direction or target, and a really good stone route (probably best in the island), too wide for walkers, too narrow for cars... just use is and you easily reach the castle. probably you do not meet anybody, neither see any litter along, as from no end of the excellent "EU" path is any sign of direction and it is not obvious from the Castle that the path heads to Kardamena either.
Antimachia Castle is well worth a visit easily accessible from Mastichari and Kardamena. Would advise wearing walking shoes/trainers as there are quite a lot of steps and rough ground. The views are breathtaking and the site is not commercial, walk to far end and you will find a small church with wonderful fresco.