Agriolidis Tower

Agriolidis was a terrible janissary in Messara plain , who lived during the Greek Revolutions of 1821. He resided in a 17th century chateau in the village of Agios Ioannis , near Phaestus , which still survives.

Agriolidis had turned his house to a fortified tower. Herein, the heroic Greek doctor Dimitrios Varouhas (widely known in Crete as Logios ) from Agios Thomas was killed on March 6, 1811, when he tried to kill Agriolidis .

Logios entered the tower alone, while his friends waited for him nearby, after the black servant of Agriolidis , Mertzanis , opened the door after agreement. Once he entered the building, he started climbing the stairs towards the bedroom of Agriolidis and the traitor Mertzanis shouted loudly " Aga Aga ”.

At the same time, the guards started shooting on Logios . The brave man managed to kill the black traitor, but he was also fatally wounded in his thigh.

He crawled bleeding at so Dimitrios Varouhas ( Logios ) managed to leave the tower, but he died from profuse bleeding. His friends thought that Logios had achieved his missio, but he was lying dead in Falandriani Korfi , where his tomb is still visitable ( coordinates here ).

Several years later, in 1828, Logios’ mates, namely Malikoutis , Xopateras , Korakas and Romanos , took revenge by slaying Agriolidis in Kapariana , near Mires . Agriolidis owned another tower near Timbaki , which was then an insignificant village due to malaria.

The tower was built by the Turks to control the passages from Messara to/from West Crete. There was a permanent garrison under the command of Agriolidis .

In 1822, after the Turks suffered a terrible defeat in Timbaki , Agriolidis and some Turks were trapped inside the tower. Then, he asked the help of the Greek Michael Kourmoulis , who was rescued by Agriolidis .

Thus, Kourmoulis , after disarming them, released the Turks.