352 Georgopoulou
was a fully equipped castle with apartments for the prince and administrative
functions to broadcast the seat of power.73 The castle’s construction betrays
the presence of Greek and French masons. French innovations include: arrow
slits, the low talus, hoardings (wooden defensive structures built onto the cren-
ellations for vertical shooting), and fireplaces. Frankish masonry techniques,
e.g. chamfered stone frames integral to the masonry of doors and windows,
slightly pointed and depressed vaults, built with carefully dressed voussoirs
and strainer arches, and tall twin lancet windows with a depressed vault of
arches made of porous stone are juxtaposed to Byzantine rubble masonry with
small bricks in the joints and strong lime mortar.74
The Churches
Impressive vestiges of the medieval period can be seen in churches and
monastic foundations built by Orthodox and Latin patrons.75 In the wake
73 P. Lock, “Castles and Seigneurial Influence,” pp. 173–86.
74 Athanasoulis, “The Triangle of Power,” pp. 111–51, 138.
75 Kitsiki-Panagopoulos, Cistercian and Mendicant Monasteries.
figure 10.8 Castle of Chlemoutsi.
Photo: Xenikakis, BY PERMISSION OF DEMETRIOS ATHANASOULIS; ORIGINALLY
PUBLISHED IN DEMETRIOS ATHANASOULIS, “THE TRIANGLE OF POWER: BUILDING
PROJECTS IN THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF THE CRUSADER PRINCIPALITY OF THE
MOREA”, IN VIEWING THE MOREA: LAND AND PEOPLE IN THE LATE MEDIEVAL
PELOPONNESE, ED. SHARON GERSTEL (WASHINGTON DC, 2013).