After the Thessalian narrows of Tempi and the access to Macedonia, in an extremely strategic location, the edge of an outpost of the imposing Mt. Olympus enters the sea, crowned on its top with a fortification, the Castle of Platamonas. In this area, the ancient city of Herakleion is placed. Byzantine emperors and officials especially from the middle period onwards, Western Europeans and then Crusaders are involved with the fortified position. Among these, it is particularly worth mentioning the nobleman Rolando Pisscia or Pice, who was assigned the Castle of Platamonas as a feudal possession. In the 13th century, Byzantine authority returns (Theodoros Komnenos Doukas), in the 14th is captured by the Ottomans, in the 15th century it is occupied shortly by the Venetians, and soon afterwards comes finally to the Ottomans and until the 20th century and the liberation of Macedonia. The Castle of Platamonas consists of a polygonal shaped enclosure with battlements and wall-walk, reinforced by eight quadrilateral towers. In its present form, the outer fortification walls in its NE side preserve one of its oldest parts; however, the battlements belong to the Ottoman phase since it is then that they were added by craftsmen familiar with the old Byzantine building practices. The gate of the Castle, in the middle of the south side, consists of a system of double access points in the shadow of a powerful tower. In its inner side, it is covered with a Byzantine semicircular vault, while on the outside it bares an Islamic pointed arch. On the southwest side, where the rocky ground emerges, the acropolis is located having a distinct wall and an eight-sided tower that reaches the height of 18m. Similar free standing towers -not adjacent to other buildings- are mainly attested in Serbia and Romania. In Greece, the most contiguous parallel is located in Methone, where the first building phase is being placed in the late 15th century. The Castle operated as a fortress until the late 19th century.