Greece · 15th century
The castle of Bouka (Greek: Κάστρο της Μπούκας, deriving from the Italian word bocca) was the first major Ottoman fortification of Preveza, in northwestern Greece. It was constructed by the Ottomans in 1478, in order to control the straits of the Ambracian Gulf. During its life it underwent several improvements by the Ottomans and one by the Venetians, after they conquered it in 1684. In 1701, the Venetians blew the castle up before they handed Preveza over to the Ottomans, according to the terms of the Treaty of Karlowitz. The castle of Bouka was standing upon the site which today is called "Paliosaraga" (Greek: Παλιοσάραγα, which means "Old Seraglio"). The summer seraglio of Ali Pasha of Yannina was built on the castle's remains, during the early 1810s.
After Preveza's capture by the Greek Army in 1912, an Army Supply-Unit was based on the site of the castle. Today, there are very few remains of the castle of Bouka, despite the fact that the site has generally not been built up.
Text adapted from “Castle of Bouka” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Castle of Bouka ranks #4,128 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #58 of the 134 mapped in Greece. Founded 1478, it is older than 45% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 554 atlas entries founded in the 15th century. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Ioannina, 80 km away. See how Greece compares in the castle statistics.
View on the interactive castle map →