Tour of the Agia Mavra castle

The British built the prison after the 1825 earthquake. It had two storeys, an external staircase, and a tiled hip roof. On the ground floor, there were three cells, each equipped with a wooden bed.

A small door led to an enclosed space, the detainee yard, while windows on the front and rear wall of the cells ensured their lightning and ventilation.

The first floor was used as an office, resting room or auxiliary space for the duty officer and the prison guards. In the mid-19th century, when the struggle of the Lefkadians against the British regime had reached its peak, two new cells were added to the left side of the building for the incarceration of the political dissidents.

The good condition of the prison’s ground floor is owed to its restoration in the year 2000.

In 1843, four identical buildings were constructed for the accommodation of the British officers and soldiers of the castle. The barracks had a rectangular floor plan, two storeys and they were built according to the local traditional anti-seismic construction techniques. Above the stone-built ground floor rested a wooden superstructure, with a balcony and a tiled hip roof.

The ground floor and first floor were divided in three rooms of equal size, and were linked by an external staircase. The main entrance and the windows were placed on the facade.

The barracks were used as a residence for the Greek refugees that arrived from Asia Minor. They remained in good condition until 1938, when their building materials were sold in favour of the Army Equity Fund.

The church is dedicated to Agia Mavra, who lived in Thebais, a region of Egypt, during the 3rd century and was martyred because she refused to renounce her faith in Christ. It is single-roomed, placed within the bastion of Saint Mark; the cannon loopholes became its windows, while the air duct on the ceiling serves as its dome. The built templon is lined with icons painted by Vasilios Sideris.

The worship οf Agia Mavra was introduced by Angevins in the 14th century, when they erected a small church to honour the patron saint of their birthtown (the French town of Sainte Maure). In the middle of the 15th century, Eleni Paleologina, daughter of the Despot of Mystras, built a new, larger church in memory of Agia Mavra, as an expression of gratitude towards the Saint for the rescue of herself and her daughter Melissa during an intense sea storm. No remains of these constructions have been found to date. During the ottoman times, the church of Agia Mavra turned into a mosque. Later, under the venetian rule and by order of Francesco Morosini, the mosque was converted again into a Christian church dedicated to Agia Mavra and Agios Timotheos. That church, located near the eastern gate of the castle, suffered severe damages during the 1743 earthquake and was completely destroyed during the siege conducted by the British in 1810. It was rebuilt from the ground up but collapsed again during the earthquake of 1869. In 1889, it was transferred to its present location.

During the decade 1922-1932, many weddings of refugees were performed in the church. Today, weddings and baptisms take place in the church, which celebrates on May 3rd.

The small gate to the right of the church of Agia Mavra leads to an open-air space surrounded by a low trapezoid outward wall, which served as the first line of the castle’s defence and was equipped with cannons. It was built by the Venetians in the beginning of the 18th century at the place known as “posto del cemitero” (“place of the cemetery”), due to the pre-existence in this location of an ottoman cemetery for the soldiers killed during the 1479 siege. For this reason, the whole area was named “Sehitlik”, meaning “place of the martyrs of the holy war”.

This outward wall was not used as a cemetery by the Venetians. However, the British restored its dual function as both a defensive and burial space.

In addition to the five cannon loopholes on the right side and the remains of the venetian gunpowder magazine, wallmounted, inscribed tombstones belonging to deceased soldiers and their families, as well as an ossuary in the form of a house, were found on the left side.

Τhis is the second main gate of the castle, built by the Ottomans between 1550 and 1600. Its initial form has been altered because of several rebuilds and modifications by the Venetians and the British. It was placed in an alcove of the walls as to be invisible by land and unassailable by enemy artillery. Additionally, its defence was strengthened by the bastion that today houses the church of Agia Mavra. The gate consists of two contiguous spaces, one outdoor and one under a circular dome, connected by a door. In the outdoor space was stationed the first body of the garrison protecting the entrance and the supply or exit gate, leading outside the fort.

This narrow antechamber offered a defence advantage, as in the event of a gate breach, the attackers would be trapped and therefore present an easy target for the defenders. The larger, dome covered space was sealed with a wall in the past and probably served as a gathering and resting place for the guards. From there, one could enter the fortress through a doorway protected with a portcullis, which was raised or lowered using a counterweight. At the external side of the eastern gate a mobile wooden door was attached, which, in case of peril, could be lifted mechanically. The door led to a wooden bridge, later replaced by a stone one, whose eight support bases are well-preserved to this day. The bridge connected the castle to the eastern outward wall.

The half-moon bastion – as the name indicates – is the semicircular bastion protecting the castle from enemy attacks coming from the Ionian Sea. It was built by Leonardo III of the Tocchi House, at the end of the 15th century, just before the invasion of the Ottomans. During the ottoman occupation, the semi-circular bastion was fortified by the addition of cannon loopholes on two levels. The first row is placed slightly higher than the sea level and the second one just above the first. The lower row of cannon loopholes looked like a vaulted gallery where the gunners, when needed, could stay overnight. During the venetian rule, the half-moon bastion gained in importance and was reinforced with a third row of cannon loopholes at the very top of the fortification wall.

The British altered the shape of all the bastion cannon loopholes in order to adapt them to modern field guns that could rotate horizontally and vertically. During World War II the central cannon loophole was widened to accommodate a large-caliber gun, capable of firing projectiles at a long distance. The loophole was restored in 2022, by the Ephorate of Antiquities of Aitoloakarnania and Lefkada.

The interior of the bastion. The two-chambered casemate can be seen, before the conversion works into a museum space.

At the base of the external part of the bastion, ancient building material is still visible, which was probably carried here from the ancient town of Lefkada. The ancient stone blocks were used for restoring the damages caused by the sea, at the foundations of the fortification walls. Ancient stones were used as well for the sealing of the cannon loopholes at the sea level of the mezzaluna.

The gunpowder magazine was built by the Venetians in 1719 after a design of the engineer Santo Semitecolo. It is a square floor plan building, having a front yard with a stonebuilt enclosure. The construction’s walls are 3 meters thick, while its pyramidal roof is exceptionally massive.

The great durability of the structure was necessary in order to remain unscathed in the event of an explosion inside, but also in case of an enemy strike. Since maintaining a low humidity level is closely related to the preservation of the gunpowder’s effectiveness (otherwise it is rendered unsuitable for use), the Venetians applied a wooden false floor on top of the paved one, on which they placed the barrels of gunpowder.

Later, the British took additional measures against humidity, coating the interior masonry and covering the roof with tiles, while they used gutters to channel the rainwater into reservoirs destined to the building’s fire protection. Though the gutters are destroyed, their stone supports protruding from the outer walls are still seen today. After 1922 the refugees from Asia Minor converted the gunpowder magazine into a bath.

The lighthouse was built on the Pantokrator bastion in 1861 and stands as one of the best-preserved Greek lighthouses, having undergone complete restoration.

It boasts a tower height of 6.5 meters and a focal height of 17 meters. The bastion offers a commanding view, overlooking both the sea and the interior of the castle. Next to the lighthouse lies the grave of English Admiral Henry Davis, who passed away within the walls of Agia Mavra castle in 1813.

The building was erected by the Venetians in 1719. It was originally used as barracks, though later it turned into a hospital. The damages caused by the explosion at the neighbouring powder magazine in 1810 and the powerful earthquake of 1825 were repaired by the British, who proceeded to its modernization. The complex consists of two contiguous two-storey buildings with a gable roof that were not connected.

On the ground floor of the left building there were auxiliary spaces and a kitchen, while on the ground floor of the right building there were offices, examination rooms and operating rooms. The rooms for the patients were found on the first floor of both buildings. The two storeys were linked by an external staircase, placed on both the narrow sides of each building. The eight in total windows on the first floors of the two buildings – all overlooking the sea – provided light and fresh air. However, if the castle faced an enemy threat, they were used as cannon loopholes.

Τhe inscription on the gabled cover of the grave reads:
TO THE MEMORY OF MAJOR GENERAL H(ENRY) DAVIS, A(D)JUTANT GENERAL OF HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S FORCES IN SICILY WHO ON HIS RETURN FROM GREECE DIED AT S(AN)TA MAURA ON THE 26TH DECEMBER 1813 IN THE 45TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

THIS TRIBUTE IS ERECTED BY ORDER OF HIS EXCELLENCY LIEUT. GENERAL JAMES CAMPBELL HIS MAJESTY’S CIVIL COMMISSIONER AND COMMANDER OF THE FORCES ΙΝ ΤΗΕ ΙΟΝΙΑΝ ΑND ADRIATIC ISLES AS A MARK OF HIS ESTEEM AND REGARDA(NNO) D(OMINI) 1815

The first cells for the monks of the Order of Saint Francis were built in 1685, on their arrival in the castle. Since they were destroyed by the 1704 earthquake, a long vaulted gallery – well-preserved until today – located inside the northern wall of the castle was chosen so as to accommodate them. A relief cross on the keystone of the arched entrance states the religious character of the building.

The simplicity of the architectural elements of the gallery is in perfect harmony with the fundamental ideals of the Order of Saint Francis of Assisi, such as humility and living in poverty.

During the presence of the British, the vaulted gallery turned into a gunpowder magazine. The floor was reinforced with a second row of stone slabs, the walls were coated, and two small skylights were opened in the front wall for the lighting and ventilation of the space.

The present form of the building is extremely fragmentary and does not allow for safe conclusions about its exact configuration. It certainly had an upper floor, accessed by the stone staircase present on the ground floor.

The facade is well-preserved, and above the entrance, there was an inscription indicating that the building was a monastery of the Franciscan Order.

The residence of the Proveditor, supreme lord of the castle and representative of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, was built in 1717. It was arranged in the shape of letter T and consisted of four consecutive rooms that communicated not only one another, but also with a private outdoor space.

The existence of an external double staircase suggests that the building had two storeys. After the departure of the Venetians, the building became the seat of the British Commissioner. In 1922, refugees from Asia Minor stayed in it.