In October 1798 the people of Preveza encountered the real devil. Following the French defeat at the battle of Nicopolis, on October 12th, the army of Ali Pasha entered the town of Preveza and dedicated two days in the relentless persecution of its citizens and the destruction of their property. Many Christians had already escaped to the mountains across the gulf, but those who stayed behind suffered terrible torture and humiliations. Hundreds of the town’s leading residents were executed, women were raped, churches and houses burned to the ground. The two days of October 13 and 14 is still remembered as the “Destruction of Preveza.”