St. Mavra Castle

The castle of St. Mavra is one of the most impressive medieval buildings in Greece and a fine example of the fortification art of that era. It was built around 1300 by the Frankish ruler John Orsini, when he got Lefkada as a dowry for his marriage to the daughter of Nikiforos A ', the Bishop of Epirus.

The castle protected the capital city against the pirates and other enemies from the first decade of the 14th century until 1684. In 1479 it was occupied by the Turks who built a large arched bridge with 360 arches in order to bring water to the castle. The bridge was destroyed by earthquakes and some of its ruins are still at the bottom of the lagoon.