Naupaktos

   City at the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, called Lepanto by the Venetians. Naupaktos was strongly fortified. It was a powerful maritime base and, along with Negroponte and Nauplia, it guarded the northern approaches to the Morea (q.v.). It was part of the Despotate of Epiros (qq.v.) from 1204-1294, when it came under the domination of Philip of Taranto, the prince of Achaia (q.v.). The Catalans (q.v.) conquered it in 1361 and the Venetians (q.v.) seized it in 1407. In 1446, when Murad II (q.v.) invaded the Morea (q.v.), the inhabitants of Patras (q.v.) crossed the Gulf of Corinth to take refuge in Naupaktos. The Venetians continued to control the city until 1499, when it surrendered to the Ottomans (q.v.).