Towards the end of the 17th century Venice embarked on a policy of harassment towards the Ottoman Empire; armed groups would infiltrate the Ottoman territories and plunder the wealthy communities of Epirus. In 1696 the Maniot pirate Liverios Gerakaris attacked the town of Arta and the neighbouring villages; he got away with a fortune! Many communities in Tzoumerka agreed to pay an annual tribute to Venice in order to protect themselves from these depredations. Mesounta was one of the villages that agreed to pay the tribute in 1695. It must have been a fairly prosperous place by then, and remained so for some time, since Ali Pasha of Ioannina made sure to gain control over it.