Between the Mountain and the Lake: Tower, Folklore, and the Monastery at Agios Vasileios near Thessalonike

Rising along the southern shore of Lake Koroneia northeast of Thessalonike, an ancient tower looms, cloaked in obscurity (Figure 8.1).1 While the tower is commonly identified by the neighboring village’s name as Agios Vasileios, no specific information on its function and role survives. Its architecture points to the existence of a monastic establishment during the Late Byzantine period. Located in the hinterland of Thessalonike, the tower and its related monastic complex would have played a strategic role in the economic and political organization of the region.