In the Mediterranean Sea lies the picturesque, historical Greek island of Crete. This mountainous land, surrounded by azure waters, is a site of great cultural heritage and among the many important sites there is a castle in the Sfakia region on the relatively remote southern coast of the island. There is an ancient castle, which was first erected by the Venetians in 1371 as a deterrent for the many pirates who roamed the region, and which is referred to by the locals as the Castle of St. Nikitas, and also as Frangokastello, meaning Castle of the Franks. It is here that every year a ghostly phenomenon is allegedly played out, which is not fully explained and is tied to the turbulent history of the castle.
In May 1828, this fortress became the scene of the battle against the Turks during the Greek War of Independence. On this occasion, thousands of Turkish troops held the castle under siege, in which hundreds of Sfakiots and Epirots were hiding, led by the Greek patriot and revolutionary hero Hatzimichalis Dalianis. The Greeks were heavily outnumbered, with less than 600 men compared to the 8,000 Turkish army outside their walls, but they stretched out the valiant battle for a full week before succumbing to the overwhelming force of the Turkish onslaught on May 17, 1828. According to legend, all the Greek rebels were killed, including Dalianis himself, and their bodies were dumped on Orti Ammos beach to rot in the Mediterranean sun and slowly covered with sand, the blood-soaked ground slowly covered with sand along with the forgotten warriors. It was a major and dark event in the Greek War of Independence, according to legend, these soldiers did not leave at all.
According to locals, every May on the eve of this disastrous battle around Frangokastello, something very strange happens. It is said that in the morning, before the sun barely rose above the horizon and when the sea was calm and the atmosphere was humid, an army of shadows would begin to emerge from the darkness and begin to march from the monastery of Agios Charalambos straight to the castle. Locals claim that these phantoms will take the form of marching men and even horsemen, many of them holding weapons and with vague expressions on their faces. Sometimes this army of ghosts is completely silent, while other people swear that they hear voices, the sounds of horses and the sound of footsteps, and it is believed that this is a restless army that died in that castle during that old bloody battle. Shadows are visible up to 1000 meters away and will last for about 10 minutes,before disappearing back where they came from, where they will lie waiting until next year to reappear. In some cases, it will take several years before they appear, depending on weather conditions.
The Greeks call these ghostly phenomena Drosoulites, which means "shadows sprinkled with dew" and this is far from just a frightening story, it is a well-documented phenomenon. In 1890, passing Turkish troops allegedly saw phantoms and fled, and the Germans reported seeing these ghosts during World War II and even opening fire on ghosts, thinking they were real enemy troops, and several respected witnesses claimed to have seen these phenomena over the years. What are these entities? Are they really the ghosts of these long-fallen warriors? Or is there something else?
The main scientific theory is that it is nothing more than some kind of atmospheric phenomenon, perhaps some kind of Fata Morgana illusion. This optical phenomenon occurs when distant objects are projected and distorted over long distances due to beams of light bending through different temperature layers with strong thermal inversion, in this case compounded by moisture in the air and warm sand. During the events of Fata Morgana, objects several miles away can be projected elsewhere to create highly realistic visible ghosts, in this case theoretically created by Libyan troops training on the far shore. The difficulty in finding answers is that Drosulites have never been properly photographed or filmed, making it much more difficult to reach consensus onwhat could be happening here.
To this day, Frangokastello's phantom army draws crowds of tourists every year hoping to catch a glimpse of it all, and locals will excitedly share their experiences. The phenomenon has never been adequately explained so far and is confusing. What's going on in this extraordinary island paradise? Are the ghosts of the dead roaming these sands, or is it something more mundane? Be that as it may, the ghostly warriors of Crete, apparently, have not yet found peace, and if you visit the island in May, you can even see them yourself.