The Kazarma Fortress in Sitia stands high above the town and is visible from the beach. It was built by the Venetians in the 13th century as the guard barracks, the Casa di Arma, a name corrupted to Kazarma.
The Kazarma Fortress was the main defensive fortification of Sitia, but it was badly damaged by frequent pirate raids and invading forces. In 1303 it was partly destroyed by an earthquake which struck the area, and was rebuilt without regaining its former power.
In 1508 it was badly damaged by another major earthquake, while in 1538 Barbarossa invaded Sitia and destroyed most of the fortress. In the 16th century, the Venetians embarked on a programme of major fortification works across Crete.
When the Turks invaded Crete in 1645, the Venetian General Mocenigo decided that the fortress could not protect the city and withstand a siege, so he moved his men and equipment to Chandax (Heraklion) in 1651.
The Turkish army took the Kazarma Fortress and turned it into a fort, making major changes to the interior of the structure. The new fort was built at the base of the Venetian castle.
The Kazarma Fortress is open daily except Mondays, offering a stunning panoramic view of the town of Sitia.
References:The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (Wieskirche) is an oval rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by Dominikus Zimmermann. It is located in the foothills of the Alps in the municipality of Steingaden.
The sanctuary of Wies is a pilgrimage church extraordinarily well-preserved in the beautiful setting of an Alpine valley, and is a perfect masterpiece of Rococo art and creative genius, as well as an exceptional testimony to a civilization that has disappeared.
The hamlet of Wies, in 1738, is said to have been the setting of a miracle in which tears were seen on a simple wooden figure of Christ mounted on a column that was no longer venerated by the Premonstratensian monks of the Abbey. A wooden chapel constructed in the fields housed the miraculous statue for some time. However, pilgrims from Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and even Italy became so numerous that the Abbot of the Premonstratensians of Steingaden decided to construct a splendid sanctuary.