Castle of Parga
The Castle is found on the top of a hill overlooking the town and was used to protect the town from the mainland and the sea. It was initially built in the 11th century by the residents of Parga to protect their town from the pirates and the Turks. In the 13th century, as their control of the region increased, the Venetians rebuilt the castle to fortify the area. In 1452, Parga and the castle was occupied by the Ottomans for two years during which time part of the castle was demolished.. 1537, Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa burnt and destroyed the fortress and the houses within.
Before the reconstruction of the castle in 1572 by Venetians, the Turkish demolished it once again. The Venetians rebuilt for third and last time a perfect strong fortress that stayed impregnable until 1819, despite the attacks especially of Ali Pasha of Ioannina, who besieges them from the castle of Agia-Anthousa. Venetians created a perfect defence plan, which in combination with the natural fortification made the fortress. Outside the castle, eight towers placed in different positions completed the defence. Inside the narrow space of citadel there were 400 houses, located in a way so that they occupied only a little room, far away from the seaside. On this castle the free-besieged population of Parga and Souli fought epic battles and kept their freedom for centuries. From the faucet “Kremasma” the tanks of the castle and the houses were provided with water. The castle for its provision used the two bays: of Valtos and Pogonia. When Parga was sold to the Ottomans, Ali Pasha enhanced it even more and put on its top its harem and its Turkish bath, improving radically the rooms of the castle. On the arched gate of entrance, on the wall, you can see the winged lion of Agios Markos, the name “ANTONIO BERVASS 1764”, emblems of Ali Pasha, two-headed eagles and relative inscriptions. Archways, gun emplacement rooms, supplies lodges, strong bastions with gun safe boxes, safe boxes of small arms, secret passage to the sea, barracks, jails, warehouses and two block-houses at the last defense line: prove the perfection of the defense plan, which along with the natural fortification made the fortress unconquered.
Ali Pasha Castle
Is a castle in Butrint, Albania. It is named after Ali Pasha of Tepelenë resided there until 1820. The current fortress was rebuilt in 1819 from its surface with 3 towers. Until 1820 it was the second residence of Ali Pashe Tepelena.
Unfortunately, this article describes the wrong castle at Butrint. The castle described and pictured is popularly known as ‘The Triangular Fortress’. Built under Venetian dominion in the late 15th or early 16th century, it provided a stronghold for the Venetians on Corfu to exploit fishing, grazing, olives and timber in and around Butrint. The castle was the centrepiece of numerous conflicts with the burgeoning Ottoman Empire, and changed hands on several occasions. It was finally destroyed by a retreating French army in 1798 to prevent it falling in to the hands of Ali Pasha.
The fortification attributed to Ali Pasha at Butrint lies some 2.4 km due west at the mouth of the Vivari Channel. This in itself began life in the late 17th or early 18th century as a fortified estate centre belonging to a Corfiote family that farmed land on the plains south of the ancient city. Ali Pasha seized control of the structure around 1804 and carried out a series of defensive improvements including the installation of gun batteries. Given its small size it is unlikely that the fort functioned as anything more than a control over access from the sea to Butrint, and it can not be compared to Ali’s more redoubtable fortresses in the region at Tepelena, Gjirokastra and Ioannina.
