They built the stone tower for safety as well as for guarding their ammunitions and food in a basement beneath a vaulted floor. The tower, reminscent of those built on Mount Athos, also had an underground escape route near the watermill located a little further on (the remains of which one can still see today). The tower first came under attack in 1813, after Veli Passas, son of Ali, campaigned against Milia and ruled over the tower. In April 1822 Milia was faced with another dramatic assault by the Ottoman occupiers, when they set fire to the village and Aghia Paraskevi church and took hold of the tower, forcing the Greeks who were inside it – amongst them the historical figure Kasomoulis – to flee to southern Greece, where they continued their fight against the Turks.
