HISTOIRE DE L'ART / ART HISTORY
Organisation du 10e CONGRES INTERNATIONAL D'ART TURC

The fortress of Aya Mavra is situated on a small island in the shallow lagoon between mainland Greece and the Ionian island of Levkas. The origin of the stronghold dates back to the early 14th century when the first, small, fortress was built by the Italian Orsini family. Until the Ottoman conquest in 1479 the Tocchi family ruled in Santa Maura. Both the Tocchi and the later Venetian rulers of the island (1502-1505 and from 1684 onwards) restored and/or enlarged the existing fortress. This led to the assumption that the fortress was built by the Venetians. In consequence the Ottoman contribution to the building history of the fortress remained completely unknown. This paper deals with the Ottoman period exclusively. The research is largely based on document and map material from Turkish, Venetian and Greek archives and libraries. It sheds new light on the extensive Ottoman building activities in Aya Mavra, and thus reveals a hitherto unknown but important period in the building history of Aya Mavra.