Monuments

The tower of Krouna is located in Ierissos, it is square in plan, its external dimensions are 8×8 m, it is preserved to a height of approximately 11.5 to 13.5 meters and it is surrounded by a collapsed fortified enclosure.

This is the tower of the dependency which the Athonite Chilandar monastery had owned until the first decades of the 20th century, and it is estimated that it was constructed in the 15th century. The property is probably traced to the Byzantine period. Its name appears to be related to the “Skala of Koroni” which is mentioned in a document of 1320 and located to the north, in the neighboring port of “Kleisouri”.

In an Ottoman register of 1478, it is stated that the “Korona Tower” chiflik (estate) was located in the region of Ierissos and constituted a household. In the Ottoman tax lists of 1481, the metochion of Krouna is mentioned as property of the holy Chilandar monastery.

After 1542 and until July 1573, the Chilandar monastic brotherhood was forced to sell the dependency, probably based on economic grounds. In 1572, the Koruna metochion came into the possession of landowner Pop Vlad from Siderokapsa, who sold it to his fellow villager Andreas, son of Dejan that same year. A year later, in July 1573, the aforementioned Andreas sold the metochion to the abbot of Chilandar monastery, Seraphim, where it is stated that a tower, a residence, a stable, a barn and a threshing floor were included.

The period of time that the dependency of Koruna remained in the hands of the Chilandar monks this time remains unknown. It should be noted that there is no such reference in the Ottoman tax registers of 1598 and 1607. In 1666, it is recorded as property of the Muslim Mehmet agha. In 1672, it is stated that a water mill also belonged to the metochion. In April 1679, the metochion is in the possession of the Muslim brothers Mehmet and Mustafa, sons of Khalil agha, who sold it to the Jew Joseph, son of Abraham.

The next reference is made in 1719, when the metochion becomes once again property of the Chilandar monastery with a meadow, a vineyard, a sheepfold and a water mill included. A year later, permission is granted to the monks to repair the building, the basement and the upper floor, the “farm house”, the courtyard, the barn, the tower, the stable and the cellar. A few years later, in 1727, they managed to get permission to replace the tiles and construct a new entrance to the metochion.

On July 30, 1760, the Chilandar monks mortgaged the Koruna dependency and received 200 grosia, on the condition that when the monastery returned the aforementioned amount, then, the metochion would be returned to its possession. On October 29, 1762, Hasan Pasha affirms that, as agreed, he had received in full what he had spent on the Chilandar metochion Koruna and waived any future claim against the Monastery. Three years later, in 1765, in a firman of Sultan Mustafa III, regarding the Athonite dependencies in Chalkidiki, the metochion is referred to as “…destroyed Korona dependency…”. In 1821, with the events of the Revolution in Chalkidiki, the tower of the metochion was set on fire and it seems that it was never used again.

During the 20th century, Chilandar owned only one hectare around the tower, a meadow and a vineyard.

It appears from the foregoing that the metochion of Krouna belonged to the Chilandar monastery since the 14th century. In addition, during the 16th and 17th century, the metochion was successively bought and sold to different owners from the region of Siderokapsa and finally, in 1719, it was once again acquired by the Chilandar monastic brotherhood.

The excavations (1996-1997 and 2000) have provided fragmentary evidence of habitation, without sufficient precision in terms of chronological estimation. The finds mainly include storage vessels from the 16th – 19th centuries which testify to the agricultural nature of the dependency. The 10th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities carried out conservation, maintenance and restoration works on the tower (roof, floors, frames, staircases, etc.) and the fortified enclosure.

N. Mertzimekis

References

Ν. Μερτζιμέκης, «Το μετόχι και ο πύργος της Κρούνας στην Ιερισσό Χαλκιδικής: σύντομη ιστορική αναδρομή», Παγχαλκιδικός Λόγος, Τεύχος 46ο, Ιανουάριος – Μάρτιος 2021, 18-19.