The descendants of Nigli, a crusader knight of the Villehardouin battalion, found refuge in Kita. Living earlier in the western parts of the Peloponnese, they came to Mani to deal more effectively with the invasion of the Ottoman Turks. They used their expertise in war, built village-fortresses and the first war towers. The rest of the population recognized them as "Megalogenites", some kind of lords, and rallied around them for protection.