Leukás

Leukas lies close to the western Greek mainland, separated from it by a narrow channel. At the island's southern tip, white cliffs rise above the sea near the ancient sanctuary of Apollo Leucatas. In the Middle Ages the castle of Santa Maura guarded the northern approach, and its name came to be used for the island as well as its fortified town.

The Ottomans captured Leukas from the Tocco family in 1479. They built a long aqueduct to supply the growing town and strengthened Santa Maura after the battle of Lepanto. In 1684 Francesco Morosini took the island for Venice after a siege. Venetian rule lasted until the republic fell in 1797; French, Russian and British authority followed in turn. An earthquake in 1825 destroyed much of the town and its aqueduct.