Castle of Sigri is located on the cape of the western side of the island, in the settlement of the same name and at a distance of 93 km from Mytilini. Thanks to its geographical position, Sigri was an important station in transit trade. Its port, properly protected by the islets of Nisiopi and Sedoussa, could accommodate a large number of ships. Large quantities of acorns, the main product of western Lesvos during the 18th and 19th centuries, were exported from it to the markets of England and Italy.
Various opinions have been proposed for the etymology of the name “Sigri”. According to one version, it comes from the characterization of the port by Italian seafarers as Sicuro (safe) port (Sicouro, Sigouro, Sigri). Another version is the identification of the toponym with the area of Sigriani of Kyzikos, the large field, which was accepted by the majority of the inhabitants of Sigrio. However, as early as Strabo in his “Geographics” we have a reference to the toponym “the beginning of Lesvia is according to Sigrion the northern end of it” and elsewhere “it is from Sigriou of Lesvia”.
Systematic archaeological excavations have never been carried out in Sigri and therefore our information about the settlement of the area is limited. The historical evidence we have about the area that was inhabited by Ottomans until 1923 is also limited.
The castle of Sigri was built in 1757 by the admiral of the Ottoman fleet, Suleiman Pasha, in order to protect the area from pirate raids and to ensure the smooth movement of goods. According to documented information, the construction of a mosque, a school, a bathhouse, a large aqueduct and fountains was also due to Suleiman Pasha’s initiative. The mosque was rebuilt in the third quarter of the 19th century, probably after an earthquake. It is kept in very good condition and since 1928 it has been used as a church. The bath still exists in Sigri but is in a very poor state of preservation.
In 1777 a company of riflemen and gunners under the command of a guard was stationed in the castle of Sigri, while in 1789 the castle had a guard of 100 men and 200 cannons. The security it provided led to the residential development of the area. The first inhabitants were, according to historical sources, Turks formerly incarcerated in the fortress prison, who after their release chose to return there with their families. Populations that were previously forced to flee inland, but mainly Muslims, gradually settled in the area as the practices of the janissaries (subjection to drudgery, oppression, taxation, etc.) acted as a deterrent to the settlement of Christian populations.
At least until the end of the 19th century. the fort formed the center around which the settlement developed. Throughout the 19th century and until 1912 military units lived there. According to the testimonies of the vice-consuls of France (1858) and Russia (1895), the castle was well maintained and equipped to prevent any local riots, but it would not have been able to withstand a concerted attack from the sea. Parts of the fortress walls collapsed due to the 1889 earthquake that hit western Lesvos.