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.
At the beginning of the 20th century the first Greeks came to live in Sigri. The history of the fortress as an Ottoman camp ends with its liberation on December 17, 1912. During the First World War, in the summer of 1915, it was a supply base and a stronghold of the Entente.
In 1923, with the exchange of populations imposed by the Treaty of Lausanne, the Turks left Sigri for refugees from Tenedo and the Propontis islands, mainly from Houchlia, to settle here.The image of the settlement today has changed significantly, due to the systematic demolition of the traditional stone-built houses and their replacement by new buildings.
The fortress of Sigri is located on the edge of the settlement of the same name, it is preserved in its original form and is in a fairly good condition. It is small in size, square in plan, with square fortification towers at the four corners and a battlement above the gate to protect it.The central gate to the east is closed with a double-leaf wooden door, covered with iron plates, which were fixed with screws. It is adorned with a pointed arch – a typical example of Arabic architecture – made of alternating red and white stones. Inside the fortress, the arched stone or brick lintels of the cells, which were used to house the permanent guard, are of similar inspiration.
The original founding inscription, which is very worn, dates to 1757 (1170 year of Hegira). 1757 is also the last year of the short reign of the weak Sultan Osman III, whose imperial monogram can still be seen on the inscription. A second inscription, which be flowed into the underground cellar of the mosque of the settlement which today functions as a church (Agia Triada), it is believed that it was once built into the fortress. Written in the poetic form of the late Ottoman period, it commemorates the construction of the aqueduct and some fountains in the city, attributed to Suleiman Pasha, during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III (1757-1774).
