History of Parga

The old city of Parga at the time of Plutarch and Ptolemy was the ancient Toryni, which was situated at the current location of the city and was destroyed in 168 BC by Emilios Pavlos. The isles and reefs which are in the sea infront of Parga, were created when the ancient city sunk. The ancient city had been the port of Epirus in antiquity -according to Meletios- and was known by the name Elaia. Based on the findings in the area it must have prospered both economically and culturally.

From the first village Agia Kyriaki till the location of Anthousa there are scattered: walls, polygonal stones and carved tombs. In Agia Paraskevi, a region of Anthousa, there must have been an entire ancient Cemetery according to the conclusions of archeologists following the discovery of a carved tomb with manyfuneralgifts,

Due to its exquisite location the city has been under constant occupation from the Mycenaean age till its incorporation in the Hellenic State. The existence of the first city appears for the first time in 1320 AD when it had been the object of transaction between the Venetians and the Despotat of Romania. Accord­ing to a Byzantine historian - possibly loannis Katakouzinos - it is mentioned in 1337 that Parga was one of the fortified cities of Epirus. It was built on the hill named Pezovolos, where today are found scattered ruins called Paleopirgi. Its first name was Paragiros of Paragea from the Slav word Prag meaning port. In its current location it was built in 1365, as was the castle which had been under the protection of the Normans. Since that time the Pargians have been trying diplomatically and heroically to achieve protec­tion from less stringent tyrants. In 1400 AD it is deserted by the Normans and it is conquered by the Albanian-Serb-Vlach Bogoi. Since then constant predatory raids weaken its defenses and it is obliged to ask for help from the Venetians.