Vonitsa Castle

The hill of Vonitsa, rising above the southern shore of the Amvrakikos Gulf some ten miles east of Preveza, has long been coveted for its command of both the water and a small natural harbour. The Byzantines fortified it first, with documentary evidence of a city there from the tenth century. In 1070 the Venetians obtained commercial privileges and permission to build a castle, beginning a long tug-of-war. Control passed to the Despotate of Epirus after 1204, then to the principality of Taranto as a dowry in 1294, and to the Tocco family of Kefalonia in 1362. The Venetians returned in 1448, lost the site to the Ottomans in 1479, and regained it under Morosini in 1684. Further exchanges followed in 1714 and 1717, with a brief French occupation ending under Ali Pasha. Greek rebels held the castle briefly in 1821, but the Ottomans remained until 1828, and the city formally joined Greece in 1832.

The fortress exploits its terrain neatly: a cliff guards the west, while the gentler eastern slope required three concentric curtain walls. The entrance, tucked behind a tower, forced attackers into a lateral approach, and the inner circuit, strengthened with round towers, stood on higher ground with little space between the lines. A final stronghold, housing the commander’s residence, formed the last redoubt. The whole survives in relatively good condition.