In 1362, Leonardo I Tocco, Count of Cephalonia, Ithaca, and Zakynthos, took advantage of the dissatisfaction among the residents of Lefkada regarding the way the Angevin rulers governed the island and annexed it to his domain. When Charles I Tocco assumed the county, he initiated extensive fortification works within which a settlement was established, ultimately becoming the island’s first capital.
During the period from 1390 to 1429, it is likely that the settlement, which had already developed to the west of the original castle, was enclosed by fortification walls. Additionally, the acropolis was protected from the northwest by a double line of walls and a moat. Notably, within the settlement and along the central road that crossed it, connecting the island to mainland Greece through the marshy terrain, tower-houses were constructed, forming an inner defensive line.
The depiction of Lefkada in a map from Christophoro Buondelmonti’s Liber Insularium Arcipelagi of 1420 is of significant importance. In this map, Agia Mavra is characterized as a fortified settlement (oppidum) rather than a “castrum.” The schematic representation on this particular map shows the fortification with two square towers connected by a wall, terminating in crenellations. The creator used this depiction as a symbol to indicate the existence of a castle. However, since similar schematically-rendered castles are used on other maps (e.g., for Corfu or Chania), we cannot rely on Buondelmonti’s map to draw conclusions about the castle’s form during that period.