Bouka's Castle

1477-78 was believed to be the date of the Ottoman conquest of Preveza. However, three Venetian manuscripts and the surviving Ottoman taxation registers for the administrative region of Riniassa –in these registers the castle of Bouka, in Preveza, is referred to as a dependence of Riniassa– provide enough information to conclude that the date 29th July 1463 should be considered as the terminus ante quem for the final Ottoman conquest of Riniassa, and hence the dependant to it area of Preveza, by sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror.

In 1465, two years after the region of Riniassa was conquered, the Ottomans constructed two defending towers at the entrance of the Amvrakikos gulf, and in 1478 they built a castle at the mouth (bocca, in Italian) of the gulf. This defensive work will be developed, at the time of Suleiman I, into the large castle of Bouka, the form of which we know from surviving Venetian plans of it. The existence of the castle initiated the development of a settlement north of it, which was named Preveza, meaning Passage, taking the existing toponym of the place that was used as a passage to the opposite coast.

My latest research concludes that there is no mention of a settlement called Preveza, in any of the known and verifiably dated written sources, prior to the construction of the castle of Bouka in 1478. Any existing references to the town of Preveza in sources which are currently believed to be dated before 1478 should, therefore, be questioned, as they are based on sources which cannot be dated with certainty to the 14th or 15th centuries. In particular, the reference to Preveza in the Greek (codex Copenhagen) and French versions of the Chronicle of Morea makes us believe that the dating of these versions should be reconsidered.

Στην έρευνά μας για τις πρώτες οχυρώσεις της Πρέβεζας του 15ου αιώνα το αρχειακό υλικό που χρησιμοποιήσαμε παρείχε τις πρώτες ενδείξεις για την παρουσία και εγκατάσταση των Οθωμανών στο νοτιοδυτικό άκρο της Ηπείρου δέκα χρόνια μετά την πτώση της Κωνσταντινούπολης και δεκαπέντε χρόνια πριν τη χρονολογία που μέχρι πρότινος εθεωρείτο από την επιστημονική κοινότητα ως χρόνος κατάκτησης της Πρέβεζας από τους Τούρκους.

Η παρούσα εργασία βρίσκεται σε συνέχεια προγενέστερων μελετών μας σχετικών με την ιστορία και την τοπογραφία της Πρέβεζας. Αποτελεί σύνθεση των πληροφοριών που μας παρέχουν αδημοσίευτες και δημοσιευμένες αρχειακές πηγές, οι οποίες αποσαφηνίζουν ιστορικά ερωτήματα που σχετίζονται τόσο με την ύπαρξη της ίδιας της πόλης όσο και την κατάκτηση της ευρύτερης περιοχής της Πρέβεζας από τους Οθωμανούς Τούρκους το 1463.

Χρησιμοποιούμε τον όρο "περιοχή της Πρέβεζας" και όχι πόλη της Πρέβεζας. Ο όρος θα επαναλαμβάνεται στην παρούσα δημοσίευση, καθώς υποστηρίζουμε τη μη ύπαρξη οικισμού με το όνομα Πρέβεζα, τουλάχιστον πριν την κατασκευή κάστρου στην είσοδο του Αμβρακικού κόλπου το 1478, το οποίο σε βενετικά έγγραφα της εποχής αναφέρεται ως κάστρο της Μπούκας. Το τοπωνύμιο Πρέβεζα, το οποίο στα αρβανίτικα σήμαινε Πέρασμα, φαίνεται να προϋπήρχε και να ονοματοδότησε το κάστρο της Μπούκας μετά την κατασκευή του. Το κάστρο κτίστηκε στη βόρεια πλευρά του στενότερου σημείου του πορθμού που χωρίζει την ηπειρωτική από την ακαρνανική ακτή, στο οποίο, λογικά, βρισκόταν το Πέρασμα.

Συμπεασματικά, πιστεύουμε ότι η χρονολογία 29 Ιουλίου 1463 θα πρέπει να θεωρηθεί ως terminus ante quem της οριστικής κατάληψης της Ρηνιάσσας από τους Οθωμανούς. Με την κατάκτηση της Ρηνιάσσας εκτιμούμε ότι και η υποκείμενη σε αυτήν περιοχή της Πρέβεζας περιήλθε σε Οθωμανικά χέρια.

According to what is scientifically held to date, Preveza was conquered by the Ottomans in 1477-1478, was fortified for the first time in 1486-1487, and its fortifications were improved in 1495. However, based on the data which were brought about following our research, these dates have to be revised for at least a decade earlier. The time of the construction of the first castle of Preveza, at the entrance of the Gulf of Arta, can now be precisely defined.

Based on the data processed, the article concludes that the area of Preveza was conquered by the Ottomans in 1463, who immediately fortified the place, in 1465, by constructing two castellos in the area of Vathy.
The castle of Bouka, the first big castle of Preveza, was built by the Ottomans in 1478. During the following two centuries the castle was strengthened and reinforced several times. Considerable improvements and new fortification works were effected by the Venetians shortly after they conquered the castle in September 1684.  The castle was demolished by the Venetians in 1701, before surrendering the area to the Ottomans, in accordance to the provisions of the Treaty of Karlowitz and other bilateral agreements.

As the castle does not exist anymore and very little remains are traceable on the site it once stood, it is difficult to locate it. In the article the castle is placed within the context of the present topography and its plan is superimposed onto a modern satellite image of the area.

After meticulously studying historical evidence and information from diverse sources about the settlement and evolution of the town of Preveza, the following conclusions are drawn: The Ottomans seized the castle of Riniassa before the end of July 1463 during the reign of Mehmet II, the Conqueror. A small settlement by the port of Vathy, two kilometres north of modern Preveza, which existed at that time and belonged administratively to the region of Riniassa, was probably fortified with two towers in 1465. A new castle was erected in 1478 at the entrance of the gulf of Arta, and eventually became known as the Castle of Bouka (from Italian bocca, meaning mouth or entrance to the gulf). The Ottomans improved its fortification in 1486-1487, 1495, 1530, 1553, and the Venetians did so too in 1684 after they seized the castle. In August 1701, the Venetians blew up the castle before they handed it over to the Ottomans, as stipulated by the terms of the Treaty of Karlowitz. In 1702, the Ottomans erected a new fort half a mile to the north of the destroyed Bouka castle, which resulted in the relocation of the small town of Preveza closer to the new stronghold.
Several manuscripts and prints have illustrated Bouka castle. The first known depiction on a map appears on the 1521 manuscript map of Pirî Reis (Fig. 2), followed by prints of Francesco Genesio in 1538 (Fig. 3), and Antonio Salamanca c.1540 (Fig. 4). Three more manuscript illustrations –those of Iacopo Inghirami in 1605 (Fig. 6), an unknown Venetian in 1684 (Fig. 9), and Giovanni Leonardo Mauro in 1685 (Fig. 10)– are reviewed and compari-sons are made. A new drawing of the castle is made (Fig. 11), based on that of Mauro, and it is overlaid on a modern satellite image of Preveza (Fig. 19) to indicate the exact location of the castle of Bouka. The castle’s foundations surely remain just beneath the topsoil and could be easily located by small excavations.

The aim of this article is to present information which has resulted from our research on the fortifications of Preveza, once the westernmost part of the Ottoman Empire. Reports and designs held in the Venetian archives, as well as plans and drawings of the 18th century, provide enough evidence for the second Ottoman fortification of Preveza in 1702.