Description

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This monograph on the castle of Modon leads us on a journey from Homer to the 20th century, and concentrates particularly on the Venetian presence. It aims to remain accessible to the general reader, and explores certain themes that until now have been shrouded in darkness: the correct name of Modon, its ancient walls and coins, the written and pictorial evidence for the castle, the structure of its Venetian administration, the deciphering and identification of the 27 coats of arms of Modon, the history of the lion of Venice, the study of the 18 lions, embedded in the walls, the discovery of the real attribution of the wrongly named Morosini, column, the restoration of the name of the so-called Villehardouin tower, the examination and reading of the mason's mark of the central gate, the finding of the correct original name of the eight-sided tower of the mole, which is still called by its Turkish name Bourtzi, and the identification of the Mediaeval form of the old harbour. When the restoration of the castle is secured, excavations will be able to bring to light those treasures still hidden in once-rich. Modon. Some of these treasures will demonstrate a privileged development, others will bring out a particular sensitivity. Some are buried, under the ground, some others have fallen into the sea, but all of them are locked up in a talkative silence. Time and Man have shifted and accumulated the soil, burying valuable evidence of the past. Nature's fury threw down buildings and sent to the depths the ships that ignored her caprices. Everything that escaped the earthquakes, conquerors, and the antiquities looters remains under earth and stones. The most valuable treasures are those that do not, gleam, as long as there are those that value the knowledge they reveal. The debt to cultural heritage is incalculable; the damage it has suffered, great; concern for its preservation, however, is small, for the time being. It is good for people to dream; but it is safer to know what they must do when they wake up.

About the Author

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Panayotis Foutakis, resident of Paris since 1985, holds a Ph.D. from the University of Paris 1, Pantheon-Sorbonne, and has written books and articles in French, English and Greek about the castle of Modon, the application of the golden ratio in ancient Greek architecture, the operations of the Order of the Knights of St. John in Rhodes and the Peloponnese, the history of the French medieval Le Viste family, the identification of the coat of arms and the inscription of a Venetian mansion house in Chania, the history and interpretation of the tapestries of the Lady with the unicorn, the identification of the reliefs left by the Viking Normans of southern Italy in the castle of Ioannina, the study of Italian Renaissance portraits and the dating of Venetian-Byzantine icons.