Castle of Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas Castle

Construction began in 1423 by Adam II San Ippolito, after receiving permission from Venice, to protect the inhabitants from pirates. It is located at the top of the island at an altitude of 45 meters. The entrance was to the northeast, where the Kouviali mill was later built. The original plan was modified in 1510 based on designs by Leonardo Da Vinci, as revealed after research by the Italian architect Robert Veneri in the Venice archives, and its size was reduced. After the revolution of 1810, the French imposed the castle's repair on the punished. At that time, they also reshaped the interior, creating ramps for cannons to be raised to the walls. Its condition is very good. The gunpowder magazine, the Venetian reservoir in excellent condition and the English one with minor damages, the guardhouse (observatory), the barracks without a roof, and the cannons on the bastions are preserved.

The initiative to plant trees on the small island was taken by Nikos Boikos (Bitsitsis) by the students in the early '30s, and today it constitutes a landscape of natural beauty, protected by the State, and after a long struggle by the people of Paxos, its absolute protection was achieved.

Sp. Ch. Bogdanos, Paxos from yesterday to today, Paxos

The small island of Saint Nicholas has an area of 150 acres

and belongs to the public and to the Municipality of Paxoi by more than 90%, while a small part of it is private, and another small part belongs to the monastery of Panagia, on the island located immediately after.

At the top of the island, at an altitude of 45 meters, lies the castle that, with permission from Venice, began to be built in 1423 by Baron Adam II San Ippolito, to protect the inhabitants from pirates. The permission was granted by the senate with a resolution on June 13, 1423 (Sathas Monumenta Historiae Hellenicae vol. III p.249). The year 1510 is engraved on the arch of the fortress gate as the completion date of its construction.

In 1484, the barony passed to the Venetian State, which then transferred it in 1513 for 3600 ducats to the Corfiot house of Ioannis Avramis. The taxation imposed by him on the people of Paxoi was so heavy that many families left the island and fled to Turkey and the uninhabited islands of the Othoni.

Initially, the fortress had a round shape, and its entrance was from the NE side, where the Kouviali mill was later built. It was reconstructed in its current form, at least regarding its exterior shape, in 1510 based on designs by Leonardo Da Vinci, as discovered in the archives of Venice by the architect and friend of Paxos, Roberto Veneri. Then, its size was reduced, and a platform was revealed in front of the gate, which was then moved to the NW side.

This platform must be a remnant of an ancient Greek structure of the castle. Parts of the ancient Greek wall, built with different materials and visibly older, are visible today. It seems that the Venetian conquerors of the island adopted the ancient Greek infrastructure as a base and extended or modified it as needed, following their resource-saving tactics applied in all their conquests.

Entering the perimeter of the fortress, the visitor encounters a wide courtyard surrounded by a low circular wall. To the left and right along the wall are the ruins of two-story buildings that served as barracks. Soldiers fired from the second floor against their enemies. In the center and to the left, there is a Venetian round cistern, and to the right, the newer English square cistern, from where the defenders of the castle got clean water. Opposite the entrance gate, there are three ramps leading to the small circular wall on which the Venetians pushed their huge cannons.

Castle of Saint Nicholas

The two towers at the ends of the circular wall, precisely where the ancient wall merges into the Venetian, are of unknown origin. One of the towers definitely served as a prison, as remnants of a latrine stand out at its end. The other tower is situated at a lower elevation than the platform level. This is the only point from which one can see the small jetty. The path leading to the fortress makes its last turn right below this tower, which might have been used as an ammunition storage. However, the water receptacles suggest that it was more likely used for keeping animals. In the ancient structure of the facilities, these two towers were probably entrances to the village, which the Venetians built up, blocking them for security reasons. A third entrance existed on the southern part of the circular wall, built long ago and well hidden.

In 1537, during the great siege by the Turks, Corfu and Paxoi were deserted. It's questionable whether even 500 inhabitants remained on the island of Paxoi. They faced a similar fate in 1571 when the Turkish fleet, led by the bloodthirsty admiral Loutsali, plundered the island, slaughtering the few inhabitants and leaving everything in ruins through fire.

In 1797, after 411 years of Venetian rule, the Venetians handed over the Ionian Islands to the Democratic French, who stayed for two years. During the period of the Septinsular Republic (1800-1807), a Russian guard under Lieutenant Abanenkov was stationed at the castle.The fortress was in poor condition during the years the island was occupied by the Imperial French. Its rapid repair was imposed on the inhabitants of Gaios and Nozi with forced labor in 1808.

After the unsuccessful rebellion of the Paxiotes against the French in 1810

and since the awaited British assistance did not arrive, the punished rebels were tasked as a penalty with the further renovation of the castle. Of the initial instigators, 54 were brought to trial, but only 19 were arrested, transferred, tried, and 7 of them were executed in Corfu. The fortification works were completed in November of the same year. Then, the interior part was remodeled, creating ramps for mounting cannons on the walls.

In 1814, Kolokotronis, a colonel of the British army, with a detachment of British troops, made a landing at the Planos of Lakkas and from there moved to Gaios and captured the Castle of Ai-Nikola. The British guard was stationed there until 1864, when Paxoi, along with the other Ionian Islands, was ceded to Greece.

Since then, the castle remained unguarded, and its cannons were only fired on national holidays or anniversaries. This practice stopped in 1943 when the retreating Italians took the small English cannons with them. During the period of 1940-41, it served as an observatory by the locals to warn of the arrival of Italian bombers and to protect people in shelters.

The initiative to plant trees on the small island was taken by Nikos Boikos (Bitsitsis) by the students of the early '30s, and today it constitutes a landscape of natural beauty, protected by the State.

Its condition today is quite good. The gunpowder magazine, the Venetian reservoir in excellent condition, and the English one with minor damages, the guardiola (watchtower), the roofless barracks, and the cannons on the bastions are preserved.

Access to it is forbidden to the public to avoid the risk of fire. One can only reach the island by boat, after crossing a small canal 40 meters wide, and only with special permission from the Municipality of Paxoi. The small jetty with its broad stone slabs dates from the Venetian period. The path leading to the castle hill passes through the pine forest vegetation.

text: Sp.Ch. Bogdanos