MONEMVASIA - Kastro - 2005

Monemvasia, Kastro. P. Skagkou and K. Douvi (5th EBA) report that the collapse of a 10m-long (and 2- to 4m-high) section of the east wall of the lower city in March 2003, following bad weather, revealed details of the construction and history of the fortification. The upper part was formed in nine steps: through the thickness of the walling were square slots to support scaffolding, and two rectangular embrasures. The wall was built of unworked stones bound with plaster, with bricks inserted in irregular array. Patches of off-white plaster from the earliest construction phase survive mostly on the inner face. More recent alterations to the wall used cement. During the post-collapse clean-up, it was ascertained that the wall was originally 0.9m thick at the level of the circuit road; during a later phase, a section of wall only 0.4m thick was built at ca. 30^o to the remaining stonework, disrupting the cohesion of the structure and thus leading to the recent collapse. The wall was restored in its original form, entirely on the original line.