The Palamidi sits 216 metres above the old town on a sheer limestone outcrop, an interlocking complex of eight bastions built by the Venetians between 1711 and 1714. It is the masterpiece of the engineer Giaxich and Lasalle, and it fell to the Ottomans within a year of completion when the local commander surrendered without a fight.
You can drive up via the back road, or you can walk — a long zig-zag staircase from the eastern edge of town. The staircase is hard work in summer and best tackled early. Once inside, wander between the bastions: each has its own name, gates, vaulted chambers and views down onto the red-tiled roofs below. In spring the cracks between the stones fill with wildflowers and the cacti come into bloom.