Venetian Castle of Emporio

This guide to the Venetian Castle of Emporio in Santorini opens with Andrea Barozzi, the Venetian lord who inherited the island in thirteen hundred eight and spent six years refusing to bow to the Duke of Naxos over a single word: vassalage. You'll hear how Venice itself had to force an armistice in thirteen thirty-one, and what happened once Barozzi's heir gave up on the island entirely. Left without a resident lord, Santorini faced bolder pirate raids in the century that followed, until its rulers built five walled kasteli, this one among them. Look at how tightly the houses lean together as you walk toward the single guarded gate.