Preveza

Συλλογικός τόμος που περιέχει τις τρεις καλύτερες εργασίες που προέκυψαν από τον δεύτερο διαγωνισμό που προκήρυξαν τα Γενικά Αρχεία του Κράτους - Αρχεία Νομού Πρέβεζας και το Ίδρυμα "Ακτία Νικόπολις" για τη συγγραφή μελετών που αφορούν στην ιστορία της Πρέβεζας. Στον τόμο συμπεριλαμβάνονται οι εργασίες του Δρ. Δημητρίου Ντούρου, της Δρ. Φωτεινής Χαιρέτη και του κ. Στέφανου Αγάθου.

The volume contains the three best papers submitted in the "History of Preveza Prize Competition 2019", organized by the General Archives of Greece and the Actia Nicopolis Foundation. The papers included in the volume are by: Dr. Dimitrios Douros, Dr. Fotini Chaireti, and Mr. Stefanos Agathos.

A remarkably accurate manuscript map of 1797, held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) in Paris, provides crucial information about the shifting of the border line of the Venetian ruled Territorio of Preveza and the Ottoman empire in the 18th century.
This anonymous map, which begins «Adi 31. Agosto 1797. S.H. Preuesa Anno Pmo. della Liberta Italliana», is composed of a long introductory text that serves as both the title and the description of the map’s contents, and the topographical map itself. The paper provides a physical description of the map, a detailed description of its contents, the historical context in which it was drawn, background about the establishment of the borders at Preveza and how they were contested during the entire Venetian period, speculations about the identify of the mapmaker, how the map entered the BnF collection, why it is now in France, the relationship of this map with other known maps depicting this northern border.
Adi 31. Agosto 1797 is an important document because it is one of a rare handful of maps from the former Venetian territories in Greece that indicates in very precise terms the border with the Ottoman empire; it is the only known detailed map of the critical northern border of Preveza.

Strategically placed οn the crossing from the coast of Acarnania to that of Epirus and from the Ionian Sea to the gulf of Amvrakikos, the city of Preve-za and its surrounding area constituted an important channel in the area of Western Greece, with manifold strategical advantages. It is this advanta-geous location of the city that the dominant powers of the era tried to ex-ploit, perceiving the accrued strategical importance of this nodal passage for the support and propulsion of their interests and the consolidation of their dominance in the wider area of Western Greece and the Ionian Sea.

The creation of the first residential core on the peninsula of Preveza seems to have followed the gradual decline and the subsequent desolation of the neighboring city of Nicopolis. The residential and communication “vacuum” that the withering of the erst vivid and powerful middle byzan-tine nautical center caused from the middle of the 11th century and onwards, was covered by the establishment of a new or the revivification of an al-ready existing naval settlement on the meridian coast of the peninsula. This settlement will gradually develop turning stepwise from a simple commer-cial transit point into a small town. The exact date of the establishment of this new settlement its location and its historical course up to the middle of the 15th century approximately still remains latent.

In 1463 the Ottomans became rulers of Riniassa and along with it of the area of Preveza. In 1477/8, the new dominants fortified the crossing, constructing the castle of Bouka. Α second fortification of the castle fol-lowed in 1495 in order to strengthen its defense against Charles VIII of France. On the 3rd of May 1605 the order of the knights of Saint Stephen devastated Preveza in a rapid venture, causing appreciable damages to the castle and the settlement as well as to its population. This venture though, did not alter the political balance in the region. The Ottomans continued to dominate the city until the advent of the Venetians in 1684. The conquest of the city on the 29th of September 1684 by Francesco Morosini marked the beginning of the first Venetian occupation which though proved to be of short duration. In 1699/1701, with the treaty of Karlowitz, the Ottomans gained once more the control of the city, and a demolished castle of Bouka.

During the period of the Ottoman rule, probably by the beginning of the 17th century, Preveza was the seat of a kaza which appertained to the sandjak of Ioannina and was governed by a subaşı and a kadı. During the first Venetian rule the city became the seat of a distinct administrative pre-fecture governed by two Provveditori who were assisted by a considerable number of support services. The protection of the city against the Ottoman danger was assigned to the corps of the Guardia while that of the surround-ing region to the corps of the civil guard (Cernidi).

The form of the city during the 17th century, as it is shown in a series of drawings related to its conquest by the Florentines and the Venetians in 1605 and 1684 respectively, is characterized by the distinction between the castle and the unfortified settlement. The houses of the settlement as well as the commercial activity of the city was developed alongside a road while inside the castle lived the authorities. The conquest of the city by the Vene-tians in 1684 marked the making of a series of important fortification pro-jects in the castle of Bouka as well as in the surrounding area with the con-struction of six towers, in an attempt to reinforce the defense of the city and to better monitor the crossing.

At the beginning of the 17th century the population of Preveza num-bered more or less the same number, as the one given in the last Ottoman census of 1579, counting 300-350 people. In the years to follow, the city seems to have witnessed some population growth, the extent though of which, due to the lack of reliable evidence, is hard to determine with cer-tainty.

Concerning the economic and commercial activities, the city of Preveza emerged as an important commercial center in the early 17th century and witnessed economic growth. Important factors of the economic develop-ment were the fisheries and the fish farming. Between Preveza and Arta there was a wooded area, which was suitable for the repair of large vessels and the construction of small ships. The trade of salt was systematized, when the Venetians became dominants of Lefkada, while Preveza was a production center of olive oil. The main aim of the Venetians was to exploit the trade of the area of Amvrakikos. Their pursuit was modeled with the establishment of customs authorities and of a sanctuary in Preveza, and by taking measures to stimulate the local trade.

Information about the taxes paid by the local population to the Otto-mans, until 1684, is given in the Report of the Provveditore Extraordinario of Lefkada P. Bembo. Among the fiscal obligations due to the Ottoman rulers, the most important were the capital tax and the taxation on the land, while considerable revenues were also raised by the exploitation of the salt marshes and the fish-farms. During the Venetian rule the area of Preveza was financially subject to the fiscal chamber of Lefkada. From 1696 and onwards the Venetians established a systematic taxation system, raising money from various taxes and custom duties, such as the tithe and the tar-iffs imposed on the inbound and outbound products coming and leaving the port.

Attention is also given to the field of the artistic creation in the nearby area, given the fact that no ecclesiastical monuments of this period survive in the city. In a nearby settlement from the city of Preveza we can find one of the most important monuments of the 17th century in the region, the Dormition of Virgin Mary at Kastri, near Rizovouni. The monument is influ-enced by the art of the region of Epirus the same period, while the art of the painter is distinguished for aesthetic and artistic excellence.