One of the oldest and most historic castles in Greece is in Argos. The site had been fortified since prehistoric times. The final configuration of the castle became the Franks.
North of Argos, where the city ends, there are two hills. Right, to the northeast, is the hill of Aspis and NW, the taller of the two (289 m.), Is the hill of Larissa where the castle is located.
And in the hill of Aspis was an ancient castle that has not survived. The two castles joined by walls to protect the city of Argos in antiquity.
The castle is called Castle of Argos, or castle of Larissa. The first people settled in Argos were the Pelasgians and the names are pelasgikes. “Argos” means plain and “Larissa” means citadel.
The castle was built in prehistoric times. The basis of some points has boulders, which remind us of the cyclopean walls. In the 5th and 6th centuries. B.C. Argives repaired and completed the wall, following the oldest traces. Significant parts of that era are preserved in the northern and western part.
In the 10th century. A.D. It built the medieval castle and has been for the Byzantines of the most important fortifications in the Peloponnese. In 1203 it came under the jurisdiction of the lord of Nafplio Leo Sgouros.
After the fall of 1204, the castle survived until 2012 when conquered by Othon de la Roche (Otto Delaros), the Frankish noble (Burgundy to be precise) which were granted the Duchy of Athens. The Franks at that time, in the 13th century, rebuilt the castle and gave it its present form.
The castle remained occidental and after the expulsion of the Latins from the throne of Constantinople and escaped from the Catalans who occupied the Duchy of Athens. From 1356 he belonged to the Duchess of Argolida Maria D’Angken (Maria d’Enghen), heir Delaros house. In 1388 the Duchess sold the area to the Venetians, but the castle of Argos gets there first and snatched Theodore Palaeologus, despot of Mystras to sell himself to the Venetians in 1394.
The Venetians kept the castle until 1463 when it fell into the hands of the Ottomans. The Turks remained dominant until 1822, with a short break in the interval from 1686 to 1715 when they returned briefly Venetians under Morosini.
