Tsoukaladelli Tower of Thermi

The Tsoukaledellis Tower stands in the spa town of Thermi, on the eastern side of Mytilene. It dates to the 18th century and is one of the island’s oldest stone-built mansions, with a defensive character and a wooden sachnisi (a roofed, projecting timber balcony). Initially, the Tower likely formed the core of an estate and served as a watchtower, later as a country residence of its owners. It is a four-storey stone building with a square plan on the first three floors and a rectangular plan on the fourth due to the sachnisi. Ancient building material (spolia) was used in its walls. On two façades are machicolations or “murder-holes,” from which the occupants poured hot water or oil onto those trying to force entry. The interior is austere. The floors were connected by wooden staircases—initially movable, later fixed. The tower was listed as a monument in 1980 and was expropriated in 1989 in favor of the Ministry of Culture.