Location: 12 km East of Chora Sfakion, Sfakia Map
Found: 1371-74
Frangokastello castle is located 12 km East of Chora Sfakion, Sfakia region of island of Crete in Greece. The citadel was constructed in 1371-74 by Venetians. On one hand Venice needed a base to control the Sfakia region, on the other hand defence of trade routes across the Mediterranean was vital to hold the whole region. Original name of Frangokastello Fortress was Saint Nikitas after a church nearby. It current name means "the castle of Franks" a general term for the Western Europeans in the region. According to a local legend the Greeks of the Sfakion region resented presence of foreigners and under leadership of six Patsos brothers started to undermine the construction. Every day Venetians were working on the military fortifications and by night the Greeks would undo their work. Eventually the Patsos brothers were betrayed and Frangokastello Castle was completed.
During long Greek struggle against dominance of Ottoman Turks the Frangokastello played an important role. In 1770 Greek Cretan by the name Ioannis Vlachos or simply known as Daskalogiannis (Δασκαλογιάννης) captured Frangokastello Castle with a small force of about 70 rebels. His victory proved to be short lived. After Greeks surrendered to the Ottoman army, their leader, Ioannis Vlachos, was tortured in Frangokastello and later skinned alive and executed in Heraklion on June 17th, 1771. In March of 1828 another leader Hatzimichalis Dalianis took Frangokastello Castle. This too was a short living victory. Turkish General Mustafa Naili Pasha gathered an army of 8,000 infantry soldiers and 300 cavalry to destroy the rebellion. On May 13th, 1828 about 385 rebels were massacred by the Turks. According to a local legend Frangokastello Castle defenders were sleeping then the Turks in silence broke into a square shaped fort and cut everyone's throats. The body of Hatzimichalis Dalianis was buried by the nun at the nearby monastery of Saint Charalambas. Mustafa lost over 800 of his men during the siege and another 1000 were killed in various locations by the rebels who ambushed them in deep, well- defended gorges.
Drosoulites or "dew shadows" is a ghostly appearance of human- like dark figures that occurs on the anniversary of the battle between Turkish forces and Greek patriots. The phenomena usually lasts for just few minutes early in the morning with a calm sea. Some claim that this might be a mirage from the Northern Africa. However many eyewitnesses reported seeing the apparitions from different angles around the Frangokastello. Furthermore they report hearing noises and sounds of people crying and metal rattling. These images seem so real and close that in 1890 the Turks abandoned their posts then they saw what they assumed was an approaching Greek army. During World War II then German paratroopers landed on the island they encountered this ghostly force and even open fire on the approaching ghostly soldiers. There are still debated on the exact nature of the haunting, but locals believe in it and regard it as souls of warriors who died for the freedom of their country.