Castle of Santa Maura (Lefkada)

The Castle of Santa Maura stands on a long, narrow spit at the north-eastern tip of Lefkada, where the road from the mainland reaches the island, about 25 km (25 minutes) from Preveza. It guarded the crossing from Epirus, and the island itself was long known by its name, Santa Maura.

The first castle was probably built around 1300 by John I Orsini, count of Cephalonia. Under Carlo I Tocco in the early 15th century it became the capital of his lands and grew into a walled town. The Ottomans took it in 1479, and in 1572-1574 rebuilt it as an irregular hexagon with nine large round bastions; in 1564 they also built a 3 km aqueduct to bring water to the town.

The Venetians captured it in 1684 after a 16-day siege, cleared the town inside and around the walls, and moved the island's capital to the site of today's Lefkada town. French, Russians and British followed; in 1807 its defenders held out against Ali Pasha of Ioannina. After the Ionian Islands joined Greece in 1864, the Greek army kept a garrison here until 1922, when refugees from Asia Minor were housed in it. Most of its buildings were pulled down in 1938, but the long walls still stand.