Castle in Pythion

The Castle in Pythio (of the Byzantine Empythio) is located 16 km north of Didymoteicho, near the railway bridge, which enters from the Greek to the Turkish ground. It was built from 1331 to 1341 by Ioannis Kantakouzenos VI, who used it to control the crossings from the valley of the Evros river. Back then, this great river was navigable almost until Filipoypoli and it was the main commercial artery from north to south. Today, out of the small sized, but strong fort, only two large towers and some elements of the fortification have survived. This fort was occupied by the Ottomans in 1361, who used it as a base for operations against the Didymoteicho.