Nafplio

Photographer's Note

Bourdji Fortress

At first it was called by the seamen Saint Theodore's island. During the first Venetian rule (1389 - 1540), in 1473 to be particular, the Venetians built a tower with guns on it. It was called the Castelli or Bourdji and later Passage. New fortifications were added during the second venetian rule (a tower with a yard and a bastion). Morosini occupied it again in 1686.

From Bourdji to the waterfront across the sea at nights there used to hang a chain that blocked the harbour. That's the reason that Nauplion used to be called Porto Catena, the Chain port, during the venetian Empire. In the years of the Greek Revolution, it was called Kastelli or Thalassopyrgos (Seacastle). The first attempt to occupy Bourdji, planned by the French Philhellene Boutier, failed. Bourdji was handed over to the Greeks on June 18, 1822 during the siege of the city. From that time it played an important part in the siege, as its guns shot at the castles of Itch-Kale ( Akronafplia) and Palamidi. The Goνernment found refuge in Bourdji for a while in 1826 during the ciνil war. Bourdji was used as a fort until 1865.

Later it serνed at the residence of the people that operated the guillotine, that had been set up at Alonaki on Palamidi. The first executioner came from Marseilles where the guillotine had been made, but he was soon forced to leave on account of the strong dislike of the people. Andreas Karkaνitsas, in a beautiful short story of his written in 1892, describes Bourdji as the «Charming caνe» that hid three dragons: the three executioners. From 1930 to 1970 served as a hotel.

Tue, weswang, Xalkida, Fixfocus, claudees, Elric, singuanti, cessy, apache, betogrein, capthaddock, kebek, john_c, sam224, Janice, aloyho, gaby, devimeuxbe, PJE, MLINES ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

ephemere33 (9743) 2005-08-03 16:46

très belle prise de vue , ou l'on dommine pas mal de chose ...les couleurs sont superbes...la luminosité bien reussie...le régal de voir cette composition et de prendre l'avion et de s'y rendre...le cadrage donne bien...j'aime beaucoup...bravo ...amicalement BI

Tue (93374) 2005-08-03 16:50

Hi John,
What a great framing you got here for this island in the very blue sea. I like the details and the textures of the stones. Good lighting too, very well done!
Groeten,
Lars

nels (2623) 2005-08-03 17:03

hi john i like to se pictures with natural framing, you have framed this very well i also like the cool colour of the sea. adrian

ajcsousa (1804) 2005-08-03 17:12

Great picture, with great colors and superb details and luminosity. Congrats.

Xalkida (11744) 2005-08-03 17:53

Ακόμα μία εξαιρετική φωτογραφία από το Ναύπλιο. Μου αρέσει η παρουσίαση που κάνεις στο Παλαμίδι! :)

ΥΣ: Πότε θα δούμε φωτός από Ζάκυνθο;

Fixfocus (9385) 2005-08-03 18:01

Hi John,
Wonderful compo with the framing arch in the foreground.Perfect exposure control here,you got strong colors in the background without loosing details in the darker foreground.I like the beautiful lightmood and colors,sharpness and dof are great.
greetings,
hermann

Elric (560) 2005-08-03 20:13

Πολύ όμορφη φωτογραφία με πολύ ενδιαφέρον καδράρισμα. Έχω την εντύπωση πως θα μπορούσες να χρησιμοποιήσεις φλας στο τείχος (τείχος δεν είναι;) για να μην χρειαστεί να είναι τόσο υπερφωτισμένο το Μπούρτζι και να υπάρχει καλύτερη ισορροπία. Δοκίμασε το. Ευχαριστούμε και για το πολύ ενδιαφέρον ιστορικό μάθημα!

singuanti (15250) 2005-08-03 22:33

Hi John. Welcome back from vacation! These shots are never easy and you did well with the keeping the exposure balanced although it looks a little bright in the distance. But the colors are great. Nice shot John.

cessy (13647) 2005-08-04 0:56

nice angle, nice framing
excellent control of exposure John
very nice shot

lukie (0) 2005-08-04 4:24

Nice and good view, taken from this "window", John.

LCannon (2798) 2005-08-04 4:35

What an interesting note about this place. It certainly looks high up here! The blue green water stands out in sharp contrast to the dark stonework. I love the textures of the stones, well done.

apache (1426) 2005-08-04 4:51

Hi John,
A nice POV. I like the way you have shot the ocean through the opening in the wall. Nice colours and sharpness on the walls and the opening.
Ranjith

betogrein (2232) 2005-08-04 9:14

Linda foto, ótima moldura, cores e profundidade de campo.
Abraços
Beto Grein

weswang (18247) 2005-08-04 10:34

Hi John, It is nice to see your new posting. This is a beautiful view of the castle in the island from a well frame castle window. This is a well composed picture with great details, clarity and excellent DoF. I like the bird’s eye view to the beautiful green water and the mountains in the background. Well done.

jemaflor (148180) 2005-08-04 12:40

Hi Ioannis,
Wonderful, good angle for shot and very nice effect, well seen.

kebek (5438) 2005-08-04 12:51

Serwus Ioannis !
Another oustanding view on this incredibly situated fortress. This time good idea to use the part of ancient walls to create natural frame and marvellous depth.
Superb details and colours. Great shot!
All the best,
Mat

john_c (24666) 2005-08-04 21:18

Hi John,
A well conceived and composed scene. I really like your POV and you have achieved great definition on the stones and their textures and colours. We have a bird's eye view of the magnificent scene below, where the dazzling colours of the water entrance our senses. A great capture.
John

sam224 (6215) 2005-08-05 5:20

Excellent shot. Very good framing through the arch revealing the little island in the wonderful crystal clear water. Very good colours.
Well done!
I will revisit,..

Janice (4403) 2005-08-05 7:36

Hi John, looking through the window to another world. I love how it frames the island fortress, and has such warm colours and sharp details. Well composed, thank you. Interesting notes about the history of the place too, thank you.

aloyho (6798) 2005-08-05 7:49

Hi Ioannis,
A very clever use of the arch to frame just the right area of this beautiful scenery. The light management is perfect and the colours are nicely shown. Well seen and thanks for the informative note. Well done!! Regards.

leonorkuhn (16237) 2005-08-05 9:28

Very nice view, Ioannis. I like the natural frame. Wonderful colours, good lightness.
Best Regards,
Leonor

capthaddock (28790) 2005-08-05 10:52

Hi John - brilliant idea to use the "window" to frame the fort, and the blue sea is stunning as always.

gaby (19819) 2005-08-05 11:02

Hi Ioannis great great great - wonderful compo with incredible sharpness and DOF - I like a lot -
well done
Thanks
Have a nice week end
Gaby

devimeuxbe (58557) 2005-08-05 17:08

Hi Ioanis
Beautifull frame with the small island in the window.
Nice colors.
Well done
Bertrand

alexlie (5359) 2005-08-07 16:02

Hi John!
What a great view! I like very much your composition with the framing arch. Exposition is great- I guess that was not too easy. Very good work.
Regards.

quantabeh (5205) 2005-08-07 23:39

hello John,
very creative and original work. I know getting the right exposure in these situations is very hard. I have done a workshop to recover some of the details lost in the brights in the background.
I hope you like it, and great shot!
Behrang

[workshop] [compare] +

sandip (3492) 2005-08-08 10:29

this is fantastic Ioannis.. i liked your POV here.. this blue takes me to dream.
thanks.

antionos (160) 2005-08-12 15:50

Yianni,
Excellent natural composition of my favorite (home!) town from Palamidi! I do not believe you needed to use the flash. The shot could have been better balanced when shot early in the morning or afternoon, when sun light is softer. Anyway, it is beautiful!

bazal (7900) 2005-08-16 5:45

Nice frame for this beautiful composition. The texture of the ancient wall is nice and sharp (on the right part !), and it makes good contrast with the background. It's a little sad that this background is overexposed and I think it could be corrected by a slight pp. Anyway, thanks for sharing this nice picture !

rabdelnoor (3423) 2005-08-17 13:37

Hi Ioannis,
Great composition and very well framed on the open window. You have managed very well the light and got very beautiful colours. I liked you included the mountains on the background.
Very well done.
Ricardo

PJE (20758) 2005-08-23 21:42

John the size of this photo really makes this a delight to view. I also like you included alot of arc on the right side. This does make the view in the opening well worth seeing. Nice effect. Breaking the rules of the norm is a very effective way to shoot great photos. Cheers.

caliane (610) 2005-08-24 15:29

amazing photo! this wall on the foreground overlooking this beautiful landscape provides an interesting composition! it's superb! congratulations!

coco (30439) 2005-09-01 17:23

Hi Ioannis.
Well seen. Is not only a nice picture, is an original view of the famous fortress in Napflio.
Thanks for share.

Note: Napflio was one the places where I had to go this past August; and finally not was.

sixTL (8596) 2005-10-13 16:58

Hi John, Your photo is beautiful. Colors are great. Very good POV and depth. Excellent sharpness overall. Regards Artur

svo555 (1028) 2006-01-12 4:57

Nice composition Ioannis!
Blue turqoise is very intense too!
You camera incredible, same as mine, ;-)
Regards
Sergi