Castle of Santa Maura
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The Castle of Santa Maura ( el, Κάστρο της Αγίας Μαύρας) is a fortress on the northeastern tip of the Greek island of
Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...
. The castle began as a small fortification in to control access to the island, before it was expanded to become a walled town and the island's capital by the early 15th century. The
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
took possession in 1479, and a century later rebuilt and enlarged it, giving it largely its present shape. A sizeable town grew outside the castle walls by the 1670s. The fortress was captured by the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
in 1684 after a brief siege. Under the Venetians, the castle was converted into a purely military installation; the walled town and the outskirts adjoining the walls were razed to improve its defences, and the capital moved onto the island itself, at the site of the present city of
Lefkada Lefkada ( el, Λευκάδα, ''Lefkáda'', ), also known as Lefkas or Leukas ( Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Λευκάς, ''Leukás'', modern pronunciation ''Lefkás'') and Leucadia, is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea on the west coast of G ...
. The fortress was modernized in the early 18th century, but was briefly abandoned by the overstretched Venetians in 1715–1716, during the Republic's last war with the Ottomans. The fortress, like the island, changed hands between France, the Russians, the
Septinsular Republic The Septinsular Republic ( el, Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία, Heptanēsos Politeia; it, Repubblica Settinsulare) was an oligarchic republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Islan ...
, and the French again in 1797–1810, before being captured by the British, who controlled it until the cession of the Ionian Islands to Greece in 1864.


History


Middle Ages

Located on a long and narrow spit projecting towards the nearby mainland coast of
Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...
, the castle is strategically situated to guard the approaches to the island from the mainland. The first castle was probably erected at this location around 1300 by
John I Orsini John I Orsini ( it, Giovanni Orsini) was the count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1303 or 1304 to his death in 1317. Married to an Epirote princess, John spent a decade at the Epirote court before succeeding his father, Richard Orsini, ...
, the
Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos The County Palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos existed from 1185 to 1479 as part of the Kingdom of Sicily. The title and the right to rule the Ionian islands of Cephalonia and Zakynthos was originally given to Margaritus of Brindisi for his serv ...
, who received possession of Lefkada (then known as Santa Maura) in 1295 from his father-in-law, the
Despot of Epirus The despot of Epirus was the ruler of the Despotate of Epirus, one of the successor states of the Byzantine Empire in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade. The name "Despotate of Epirus" and the title "despot of Epirus" are modern historiographical ...
Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas Nikephoros I Komnenos Doukas, Latinized as Nicephorus I Comnenus Ducas ( el, Νικηφόρος Κομνηνός Δούκας, Nikēphoros Komnēnos Doukas; – ) was ruler of Epirus from 1267/8 to his death in 1296/98. Life Born around 1240 ...
. This first fortification was probably in the northeastern corner of the current castle. The Orsini family lost Lefkada in 1331 to
Walter VI of Brienne Walter VI of Brienne (c. 1304 – 19 September 1356) was a French nobleman and crusader. He was the count of Brienne in France, the count of Conversano and Lecce in southern Italy and claimant to the Duchy of Athens in Frankish Greece. Life ...
, who in 1343 ceded the ''castrum Sancte Maure'' and the island to the Venetian Graziano Giorgio. In 1360/62, Leonardo I Tocco seized Lefkada, assuming the title of duke.
Carlo I Tocco Carlo I Tocco was the hereditary Count palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos from 1376, and ruled as the Despot of Epirus from 1411 until his death on July 4, 1429. Life Carlo I was the son of Count Leonardo I Tocco of Cephalonia and Leukas by Madda ...
() made the castle the capital of his domains, which apart from the County palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos also included much of the Epirote mainland, and enlarged the fortified town. Nevertheless, the settlement appears to have extended beyond the walls on both sides of the castle. In 1413, the
Prince of Achaea The Prince of Achaea was the ruler of the Principality of Achaea, one of the crusader states founded in Greece in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1202–1204). Though more or less autonomous, the principality was never a fully independent s ...
,
Centurione II Zaccaria Centurione II Zaccaria (died 1432), scion of a powerful Genoese merchant family established in the Morea, was installed as Prince of Achaea by Ladislaus of Naples in 1404 and was the last ruler of the Latin Empire not under Byzantine suzerainty ...
, launched an attack on Lefkada and its castle with Albanian mercenaries, but it was defeated with help from the
Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...
. The Ottomans raided the island in 1430, leading the Tocci to consider ceding it to the Venetians, but in the event the island remained under Tocco rule until captured by the Ottomans in 1479.


Ottoman period

The Venetians briefly occupied the island in 1502–03, during the Second Ottoman–Venetian War, but returned it to the Ottomans in the final peace settlement. Under Ottoman rule, the town inside the castle (known as Aya Mavra (, from Greek ) was the capital of the island. A register compiled in 1523–1536 mentions that the town comprised 194 households, i.e., around 1,000 inhabitants, all of them Greek Christians, and that the garrison numbered 111 soldiers and 9 artillerymen. A lack of water led to the construction of a long aqueduct from the island's interior to the town in 1564. Bringing water to the walled town as well as to the much larger—some 700–800 houses—open town that had grown around it, this was of the most important works of Ottoman civil architecture in the western Balkans. On top of the aqueduct was a footpath that was the only access to the island, other than by the sea. In the aftermath of the Ottoman defeat at the
Battle of Lepanto The Battle of Lepanto was a naval engagement that took place on 7 October 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Catholic states (comprising Spain and its Italian territories, several independent Italian states, and the Soverei ...
, the castle was unsuccessfully besieged by the forces of the Holy League. As a result, it was completely rebuilt and enlarged by the
Kapudan Pasha The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was bas ...
Kılıç Ali Pasha in 1572–1574. The new castle resembles the earlier Castle of the Morea at Rio. The new fortress was in the shape of an irregular hexagon, some to at its widest; and featured nine large round cannon bastions. The medieval fortress was retained as a citadel on the northeastern corner. By the time
Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...
visited the castle in 1670/71, only Muslims lived in its stone houses, with the Christians in two adjoining suburbs to the east and west and one on the island itself. In contrast to the walled town, all buildings in the suburbs had purposely been built of wood. Evliya writes that the garrison comprised 1,085 men, but an Ottoman budget document from the same year lists just 285.


Venetian period

The castle was conquered by the Venetians following a sixteen-day siege in 1684, during the Morean War. The Venetian commander,
Francesco Morosini Francesco Morosini (26 February 1619 – 16 January 1694) was the Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War. He was one of the many Doges and generals produced by the noble Venetian family of Morosini.Encyclopæd ...
, evacuated the walled town and demolished both it and the two suburbs directly outside the walls, turning them into the castle's '' glacis''. The island's capital moved to the remaining suburb, at the site of the modern city of Lefkada. The Venetians modernized the castle by 1713, removing the remains of the medieval citadel; the eastern ramparts, facing the Ottoman-held mainland, were thickened and improved with the addition of two bastions, a ravelin and
couvreface A couvreface in fortification architecture is a small outwork that was built in front of the actual fortress ditch before bastions or ravelins. It usually just consisted of a low rampart with a breastwork that protected its defending infantry. Anot ...
; and additional
outworks An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtai ...
were built on the flanks of the fortress. During the
Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season ep ...
, following the rapid
Ottoman reconquest of the Morea The Ottoman reconquest of the Morea took place in June–September 1715, during the Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War. The Ottoman army, under Grand Vizier Silahdar Damat Ali Pasha, aided by the fleet under Kapudan Pasha ('Grand Admiral') Canım Hoc ...
in 1715, the Venetians initially abandoned Lefkada to focus their resources on the defence of Corfu. The castle was abandoned and partly demolished, but after the Siege of Corfu ended in a Venetian victory, the island was reoccupied and the fortifications restored. After a rebellion of the local Greek rebellion in 1769, the fortifications were repaired.


Modern period

Following the
Fall of the Republic of Venice The fall of the Republic of Venice was a series of events that culminated on 12 May 1797 in the dissolution and dismemberment of the Republic of Venice at the hands of Napoleon Bonaparte and Habsburg Austria. In 1796, the young general Napoleo ...
in 1797, Lefkada, like the other Venetian Ionian Islands, was occupied by the French, who held it until a Russo-Turkish expedition under Ushakov captured it in 1799. Ali Pasha of Ioannina, who coveted possession of the Ionian Islands, besieged Lefkada in 1807, but the local Russian and Greek forces of the
Septinsular Republic The Septinsular Republic ( el, Ἑπτάνησος Πολιτεία, Heptanēsos Politeia; it, Repubblica Settinsulare) was an oligarchic republic that existed from 1800 to 1807 under nominal Russian and Ottoman sovereignty in the Ionian Islan ...
successfully defended the fortress. French rule was restored in 1807, after the
Treaty of Tilsit The Treaties of Tilsit were two agreements signed by French Emperor Napoleon in the town of Tilsit in July 1807 in the aftermath of his victory at Friedland. The first was signed on 7 July, between Napoleon and Russian Emperor Alexander, when ...
, but in 1810, the British captured the island. During the subsequent period of the British protectorate, the castle was garrisoned by British troops, who undertook some modernization of its facilities. Following the
Union of the Ionian Islands with Greece The Treaty of London in 1864 resulted in Great Britain ceding the United States of the Ionian Islands to Greece. Britain had held an amical protectorate over the islands since the 1815 Treaty of Paris. The federated United States of the Ioni ...
in 1864, the castle was garrisoned by the Greek army until 1922, when
Asia Minor refugees Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the more than one million Greek Orthodox natives of Asia Minor, Thrace and the Black Sea areas who fled during the Greek genocide (1914-1923) and Greece's later defeat in the Greco-Turkish War ( ...
were housed there. The fortress was eventually abandoned, and in 1938 most of the buildings with its walls were demolished.


References


Sources

* * * * {{Tabula Imperii Byzantini , volume = 3 Castles in Greece Ottoman fortifications in Greece Lefkada Venetian fortifications in Greece