Near the village of Tripodes (or Vivlos), there are the ruins of the imposing Tower of Plaka, for which there are many myths apart from the historical data …
Location:
The Tower of Plaka or Paliopyrgos, as it is called, is located in the village of Tripodes, about 7 km from Chora.
History:
The tower was like most of the towers in the Aegean, built with huge stones, with few windows and loopholes.
Until now, the stone stairs leading to the loopholes have survived.
Today the tower is destroyed and only the foundations and the north side are preserved.
The Tower of Plaka was used as an observatory. From there, they were alerted by various signals, such as fires, to the rest of the island’s observatories to protect the inhabitants from pirates’ attacks.
The myth:
There are many myths and legends that have been written and told at times about the Tower of Plaka.
A myth claims that the tower has been built by Cyclops, and it is due to the construction of giant stones.
The most famous legend is the one referring to a king and his daughter. According to him, a king of the past, put a bet between two young men of the time, who will marry his daughter. One had to make a Tower in one day and the other to build the aqueduct. They both finished the feats on time and returned to the palace in the evening to claim the king’s daughter. There they muttered and the daughter left and stayed forever in the Tower. All day he stood in a tripod stool and in the evening he went down and told the future to the locals. When the Tower was destroyed, the girl disappeared and the locals found only the tripod stool. From the tripod stool that remained in the tower, it is said that, it was named after the village Tripodes.