On the southern coast of Crete is one of the best surviving castles - Frangokastello. Here once was located, and the settlement of the same name (now destroyed). The castle is located 12 km east of the town of Chora Sfakion (prefecture of Chania).

The fortress was built in the years 1371-1374 by the Venetians to accommodate the garrison here, which will deal with the settlement of revolts and uprisings in the region of Sfakia, and to protect Venetian nobles and their property from pirate raids. Initially, the castle was called "Castle of St. Nikita" (named after the patron saint of these places and the name of the eponymous church nearby). But the locals were more popular contempt "Frangokastello", which literally means "castle of the Franks." Gradually, the name is well established for the fortress.

Frangokastello is a rectangular building with four patrol towers (at each corner). Above the main gate is placed the symbol of the winged lion of St. Mark (the emblem of the Venetian Republic). To this day preserved in the wall and the remains of relief coats of arms of families Quirino and Dolphin. Even during the Ottoman rule of Frangokastello was somewhat modernized, it was built battlements with loopholes.

The fortress was repeatedly witnessed fierce battles between the local population and the Turks. In May 1827 there was a significant battle that went down in history. Residents led Sfakia Cretan rebel Daliyanis in an attempt to expand the war of independence took over the castle. The Turks took Frangokastello in the siege and brutally cracked down on the insurgents. It is said that every year in May, on the anniversary of the battle about the early morning there is one and the same vision: the shadow of armed men in a hurry to the castle (it is believed that the souls of the dead are Cretans). This phenomenon scientists have identified as a mirage and called "drosulites." It is assumed that this phenomenon is caused by a kind of refraction of light, but a consensus scientists have not yet come.