The Byzantine sources provide little information about the exact date of the construction of the castle of Servia. The strategic importance of the fortification of this particular site could be related to the organized plan of defensive reorganization of the Byzantine state, which was extensively implemented in the sixth century when the emperor Justinian rushed to fortify critical positions to secure the borders of the empire and the new territories from enemy raids.
The coins found in the castle of Servia provide us with a range of continuous occupation of the area from the late Roman period until the 17th century AD. A fortified place of minor importance with a different name may have existed at or near this site. The limited excavation research, however, carried out so far in the area of Servia does not allow us to draw any firm conclusions about the dating of the town’s foundation. The silence of the sources, which have not yet provided any information about the existence of a fortified position in the area or even a settlement called Servia during the Roman period or even earlier, contributes to this fact. The foundation of Servia as a fortified settlement must be dated between the 6th and 7th centuries AD based on archaeological data. However, from the end of the 9th century, there is evidence of a Bishopric of Servia under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Thessaloniki.
The location of the castle of Servia, on the top of a steep hill, has been the subject of admiration and detailed descriptions since Byzantine times. In the 11th century, Kekaumenos, pointing out the strategic position of Servia, wrote: “Servia is a fortified city […] that gained its safety with its cliffs and gorges.” Georgios Kedrenos provides important historical information on the defensive function of the walls of Servia and how they acted in conjunction with other fortresses.
Three centuries later, Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos presents a fairly detailed account based on his personal experience of his own failed siege of the city in 1350, although the city passed by treaty to the Byzantines later that same year.
Kantakouzenos describes a city of considerable size, which gives the impression of a city suspended in the air the closer one gets to it. This city, the description continues, is surrounded by deep gorges and is divided by widened streets into three sections, with its houses arranged in successive rows in those parts of the city that can be inhabited; from a distance, it gives the impression of having only “a few multi-story houses.” Kantakouzenos also describes the use of the three sections of the city as follows: the two lower sections are inhabited by the citizens, while the third, the citadel, is reserved for the lord of the city. From Kantakouzenos’ description of the siege, we can conclude that many of the city’s inhabitants lived outside the walls. These inhabitants were indeed trapped during his siege between the Byzantine emperor’s forces and the external walls of the city.
In general, as the sources indicate, the castle of Servia passed from the 11th to the 14th century, a turbulent period with constant sieges, surrenders, and reconquests: At the end of the 10th century, it was subjugated to the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel, while the liberation of the city came from Basil II Porphyrogenitus at the beginning of the 11th century, which led to the destruction of its walls on the emperor’s orders, to avoid the risk of the city being recaptured by the enemies. After a period of occupation by the Latins from 1204 to 1216, the city passed to the Despotate of Epirus under Theodore Doukas. In 1230, it was recaptured by Michael II Komnenos, who rushed to repair the city walls. In 1257, after diplomatic negotiations, Theodora, the wife of Michael II Komnenos, ceded Servia to Theodore II Laskaris, and the city became part of the Empire of Nicaea. In 1341, Stefan Dusan, Emperor of the Serbs, captured the castle of Servia, only to surrender it in 1350, after a treaty, to John VI Kantakouzenos. The final submission of Servia was probably voluntary, as newer research shows, and was achieved by Sultan Bayezid I in 1393. Τhe castle was then used by the Christian population of the Ottoman city, as the Muslim population chose to settle in the lowland area under the Byzantine castle.
The creation of this website is part of the implementation of the Act “Consolidation and Restoration of the Western Tower of the Castle of Servia,” which was implemented by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kozani and co-funded by Greece and the European Union / European Regional Development Fund through the Operational Programme “Western Macedonia” of the NSRF 2014-2020.
