During my visit in September 2013 I had the opportunity to pay a visit to this tower, build in 1300/1302 by Milutin, the younger son of the Serbian king Stefan Urosh I. The tower is build to defend the Serbian Chilandar monastery, that is located about 2 km inland. From the tower you can the NE-coast of Athos and the ruins of Agiou Basiliou.
View of the Milutin tower from the road to Esfigmenou (NE-coast and Cape Arapis)
Pictures (autochromes) of the Milutin tower in 1918 by Cuville: notice that the houses are still intact!
Again an old picture of the tower from 1923 by Whittemore and Pratt, with a damaged roof and the houses attached to it (and a small cypress tree).
The SW corner of the tower in 2013
The door to the – ruined – house: all roofs of these houses disappeared and the walls seem to crumble down soon…
Inside the former house, with a stone door to the next room
This the place where the houses were attached to the tower: could this have been a small chapel, looking at the niches in the wall?
The west-side of the tower: a stair leading to the entrance
The entrance to the ground floor of the tower
Inside the tower: the floors of the first and second floor collapsed.
Tthe ground floor
the winding stairs
From the first floor looking down
From the second floor
The third floor is new, with the door to the balcony
Picture of the renovated roof
The balcony just under the roof: SW direction, the road to Chilandar
The large Chilandariou vineyards: South of the tower and in the background Chilandar arsanas buildings
More vineyards and Agiou Basiliou
Agiou Basiliou seen from the tower
Photo looking down from the tower: S-wall
The remnants of the houses. Look how the cypress tree has grown in 90 years.
Ground floor again: a hole in the ground leading to ….?
Wim, 21/1
