Agioleni

On the islet of Agioleni, inside the bay of Sagiada in Epirus and close to the salt pans, stands the ruined remnant of a substantial cylindrical tower. What survives is no more than two metres of its lower wall, yet the diameter still exceeds eight metres, suggesting an original height of over ten. Beside it sits the chapel of Agia Eleni, which gives the place its name. Nothing is recorded of the tower's history, though its position strongly implies a purpose: guarding the valuable salt pans. The likeliest builders are the Venetians, who controlled the region from around 1400 to 1479 and, in that brief interval, actively developed salt production and raised fortifications such as La Bastia and the Strovili fortress. But certainty is impossible; the tower might belong to any period from the early Byzantine centuries to post-Byzantine times. A sturdy, watchful structure, now reduced to a stone ring with a view.