The castle of St George Plagia and the nearby castle of Peratia (also known as Grivas) were both built, with French assistance, by Ali Pasha in 1806-1807 when he was planning an invasion of the island of Lefkas; this however never took place.

St George’s hill had been of strategic importance since the 5th century BC, the castle having been built within the original acropolis of an ancient fortification circuit, fragments of which are still visible to the left of the path to the main gate.

Designed to mount artillery to cover the narrow channel between the mainland and Lefkas island, the castle has clear views to Grivas and Santa Maura castles, and to Preveza.

St George Plagia castle was captured by the Greeks during the revolution against the occupying Ottomans in May 1821.

Sources:

• Castles of Northwest Greece, Allan Brooks, Aetos Press, ISBN 978-0-9575846-0-0-
• https://www.kastra.eu/castleen.php?kastro=plagia accessed 25 March 2020