page_title: Las (Greece)
section_title: Castle
hierarchical_section_title: Las (Greece) / Castle
caption_attribution_description: English: Vincenzo Coronelli, Pasava castle inn Greece Ελληνικά: Το κάστρο του Πασαβά, σχεδιάγραμμα από τον Vincenzo Coronelli
context_page_description: Las, or Laas, or La, was one of the most ancient towns of Laconia, located on the western coast of the Laconian Gulf. It is the only town on the coast mentioned in the Periplus of Pseudo-Scylax between Taenarus and Gythium. The Periplus speaks of its port; but, according to Pausanias, the town itself was distant 10 stadia from the sea, and 40 stadia from Gythium. In the time of Pausanias the town lay in a hollow between the three mountains, Asia, Ilium, and Cnacadium; but the old town stood on the summit of Mt. Asia. The name of Las signified the rock on which it originally stood. It is mentioned by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad, and is said to have been destroyed by the Dioscuri, who hence derived the surname of Lapersae. There was also a mountain in Laconia called Lapersa.
context_section_description: The present castle on the site dates after the 13th century, perhaps even after the Middle Ages. It is of a quadrilateral shape, some 180 m long and 90 m wide. The castle originally featured large round towers on the northwestern, southeastern, and southwestern corners, but only the northwestern one survives. A square tower was located on the northeastern corner, the highest point of the castle; two other square towers were located in the middle of the northern and eastern walls. The wall surrounding the castle was not very tall—the chemin de ronde is barely 2 m higher than the castle's interior—and its north-eastern side is particularly feeble, as it was protected by its location on the top of the rocky hill. The entrance was probably in the south. Unidentified structures were built adjoining the walls on the interior, while during the later Ottoman occupation a mosque was built in the centre.
caption: Sketch of the castle by the Venetian Vincenzo Coronelli, 1689
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