🏰 Castle of Santa Maura

The Castle of Santa Maura is a fortress on the northeastern tip of the Greek island of Lefkada. The castle began as a small fortification in c. 1300 to control access to the island, before it was expanded to become a walled town and the island's capital by the early 15th century. The Ottoman Empire took possession in 1479, and a century later rebuilt and enlarged it, giving it largely its present shape. A sizeable town grew outside the castle walls by the 1670s.