Agia Mavra and Agios Timotheos
wall painting, 15th century, Cyprus.
One kilometre northeast of Lefkada, the castle of Agia Mavra stands imposingly. Its strategic position provided control of the Adriatic Sea routes and of the entrance to the Ambracian Gulf, as well as land communication between the island and mainland Greece. The impressive fortification, which covers an area of about 50,000 square metres, has been subjected to successive interventions, from medieval to modern times, incorporating into its core different developments in military architecture.
The channel, “Ammoglossa“, “Gyra“ and the castle of Agia Mavra from above.
In the background the town of Lefkada.
The castle was founded at the beginning of the 14th century by the Franks, while the form it retains to this day is mainly the result of the adaptations it underwent in the Ottoman and Venetian periods. It has an irregular seven-sided plan with a total of eight bastions of circular, semi-circular and trapezoidal shapes. The fortified perimeter of 900 m in total length is built of local limestone. The height of the walls varies between 4 to 12 m, and the thickness ranges from 1.80 to 20 m. The interior of the castle is structured on two different levels. On the outside, it is protected by a moat (partially hidden today) and ramparts, to repel the enemies. Wooden bridges over the moat, were used to access the two main gates, the east and west. These were replaced by stone ones during the English occupation.
