Greece - Grivas castle

Grivas castle is located just before reaching Lefkada island. Before the construction of the castle there was a muslim monastery on the same spot. That’s why it was called teke (gathering place for dervishes).

The castle itself was built in 1806 by Ali Pasha of Ioannina; an Ottoman Albanian ruler who served as pasha of Epirus and the western parts of Thessaly and Greek Macedonia. The objective was to facilitate Ali’s attack against Lefkada. The plans of Ali were canceled in July 1807, when the French occupied the Ionian islands, after a treaty with the Russians. Soon after that, Ali Pasha gave the castle to the Grivas family, prominent in the area in the 18/19th centuries. In May 1821, during the Greek Revolution the castle was captured by the Greeks.