Kastro tis Orias (ballad)

The Kastro tis Orias (Greek: Κάστρο της Ωριάς, "Castle of the Fair Maiden") or Kastro tis Marous (Κάστρο της Μαρούς, "Castle of Maria") is a Greek ballad about a fair maiden who fell from the battlements of her castle to her death when it was taken by an enemy, typically Saracens or Ottomans. In many versions, it has been known throughout the Greek world since the Middle Ages. The name has been applied to many fortifications across the Greek world (cf. Kastro tis Orias).

The ballad may originally have been based on the Sack of Amorium (838); the characteristics of the citadel of Amorium (near modern Emirdağ, Turkey) seem to be mentioned, especially in the version called "To Kastro tis Marous".[1]

  1. ^ Aikaterinē Christophilopoulou, Byzantine History, 1986, ISBN 9025610447 2:249