It was built by the Venetian state official of the Duchy of Naxos, Giovanni Querini, on the site where the ancient citadel of the island was. It is unique among all the other that exist in the South Aegean. The fortification wall of the Castle is essentially identical with the continuous, external walls of the houses of the settlement, which were placed around the periphery, on the borders of the hill. With the undivided and unbroken walls, they formed the perimeter defensive ring. These are called “xokastra" (outside the castle). The castle had the appearance of a fortress to protect the inhabitants from pirates and provide visibility in the two natural harbors of the island.
We start the tour with views of the unique entrance of the Castle that is located on the southwest side and leads in the interior through a low, domed corridor that is covered with three cruciate vaults. We see the ruins of houses whose walls and windows were left open after the 1956 earthquake. The beautiful white dome (which is blue today) of castle’s church "Evangelistria" which was built in 1853, contrasts with the dark rock color of the ruined Querini house. The lens approaches the mansion's coat of arms.
Panoramic view with the ruins of old houses and then the big town square, the "blatsa" where the meetings of the castle took place. In a distance, a partial view of the second white church of the castle, St. Georgios which dates from 1790. Views of ruined houses again, which were three storeys high. Each house had two or three homes. That is to say they housed two or three families.
Views of stone stairs for the upper parts of the houses, beautiful arches, remnants of plastered walls and privileged small windows that are facing the sea. A zoom-in view to a cat who is guarding her kittens. They look with a great surprise at the lens. We also have trails of ancient temples which are descerned from broken, fallen colonnades.
It is spring and a range of beautiful colorful flowers and shrubs show off the flora of the castle. A panoramic view from above shows the rooftops of the whitewashed houses with the local architecture surrounding the castle.