In antiquity the area was inhabited by the Greek tribe of the
Thesprotians.
Mycenean tholos tombs have been discovered in the vicinity of Parga. The ancient town of
Toryne was located there during the late
Hellenistic Age. It owes its name due to the shape of its beach (, in Greek). Parga itself is mentioned for the first time in 1318; the name is most likely of
Slavic origin. Two years later, the town and its sugarcane plantation proceeds were unsuccessfully offered by
Nicholas Orsini, the
Despot of Epirus, to the
Republic of Venice in exchange for Venetian aid against the
Byzantine Empire. The town passed under Venetian control in 1401, and was administered as a mainland exclave of the Venetian possession of
Corfu, under a castellan. Venetian-controlled Parga was in this period in frequent property-related conflict with neighboring, Ottoman-controlled
Margariti and was the target of constant raids. The cause of friction has to do with the conflicting interests of the Venetians and the Albanian beys of Margariti for the control of the agricultural territory between the town of Parga and the inland territory. Such an attack against the coastal port was organized in 1558 by the formerly Christian spahi of
Agia (today part of the municipality of Parga) and the locals of the village who according to Venetian reports harassed Parga on a daily basis. Relations between the two factions oscillated depending on political interests. The General Commander of the Venetian Fleet, Sebastiano Vernier (d. 1578) preferred a cautious policy of conflict resolution with the inhabitants of
Margariti, as well as friendly relations with the Albanians loyal to Venice who controlled the area around Parga itself. In the 17th century, their relations worsened and Parga was a frequent target of attacks by the beys of Margariti, in particular in 1640-42. During these two years, the representative (
bailo) of Venice in the Ottoman court submitted an official note of protest for the attacks of Margariti against Venetian Parga. During Ottoman rule in Epirus, the inhabitants of Parga displayed continuous support for Greek revolutionary activities. Apart from brief periods of Ottoman possession, the town remained in Venetian hands until the
Fall of the Republic of Venice in 1797. The leading figure of political life of Parga in this transitional period was Hasan Çapari, strong adversary of Ali Pasha and very wealthy landowner from nearby
Margariti, who in 1807 sought Russian support, claiming that the
Royal Navy "were harassing the residents of Parga". In 1812 the adjacent settlement of Agia that belonged to Parga was captured by Ottoman general Daut Bey, the nephew of Ali Pasha. He then massacred and enslaved the local population. Daut was killed during the following siege against Parga. In 1815, with the fortunes of the French failing, the citizens of Parga revolted against French rule and sought the protection of the British. In 1819, the British ceded control the city to
Ali Pasha of Ioannina (the subject of
Francesco Hayez's later painting
The Refugees of Parga) in exchange for a monetary settlement, and it later passed to full Ottoman rule. This decision was highly unpopular among the population of Parga, a predominantly
Greek inhabited and extremely pro-Venetian settlement. Parga then ceased to provide a refuge for
Klephts and
Souliotes and many residents of Parga moved to nearby Corfu rather than live under Ottoman rule. As such Parga was completely abandoned by its inhabitants after the British departure and its handover to Ali Pasha in 1819. In 1830,
Kutahi, in his attempt to restore rule and justice in the region, invited the people of Parga to return to their homeland. During the first year of the
Greek War of Independence (1821) the Ottoman garrison of Parga was unsuccessfully attacked by a small force of Souliotes and men of the local diaspora. In 1831, some Muslim refugee families from the
Peloponnese were resettled in Parga by Kutahi. In 1877 the predominant language in Parga was Greek since even the local Muslim element spoke Greek, while some of them also spoke Albanian. Ottoman rule in Parga and the rest of Epirus ended in 1913 following the victory of Greece in the
Balkan Wars, and the town became part of Greece. As a result of the
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, the state of Greece in November 1924 transported to Turkey, 1,500 Albanian-speaking Muslims from Parga, as not being of Albanian origin. The Muslims of Parga had acquired Ottoman citizenship in 1913, but had later renounced it. On this basis, the Greek government considered them to be Turkish. As a result of protests, a Mixed Commission under the League of Nations with representatives from Greece and Albania was formed. On February 2, 1926, Qenan Mesare, the Albanian representative protested against the forced relocations to Turkey from the region of
Chameria, the worsening of the living conditions for the
Cham community and specifically referred to the village of Parga, where the majority were transferred to Turkey. In 1927, a group of 20 Muslim families petitioned for their planned exchange to be annulled. This small group was eventually allowed to remain in Parga via mediation by the League of Nations which made their status "non-exchangeable". During the
Axis Occupation of Greece, in August 1943, Parga was targeted by the German anti-guerilla operation named 'Augustus'. The Wehrmacht units were actively assisted by units of the Italian army and armed Cham Albanian groups under Nuri Dino, Mazar Dino and Abdul Qasim resulting in several Greek settlements to being burnt to the ground and the murder of civilian Greek population. On August 10, 1943, the
National Republican Greek League (EDES) and the Cham
Balli Kombëtar (BK) held a meeting in Parga, attended by representatives of the two organizations including Mazar Dino. EDES asked for the disarmament of the Cham units and for their activity to pass under EDES command. These demands were met with refusal by the Cham BK. After orders by the British Allied Command the EDES undertook operations around the coast of Parga. Control of the region was vital for logistical reasons. The following month the left wing
National Liberation Front (EAM) arrested 40 local Muslims and executed them. The remaining members of the Muslim community were saved by units of EDES. In general violent incidents in Summer-Autumn 1944 were quite limited and the civilian Muslim community was not found in danger. During the conflicts that resulted in the German retreat, the Axis troops around Parga had the armed support of Cham units. At the end of the war, the remaining Muslim Chams fled to Albania. Albanian is still spoken by few inhabitants in parts of the municipality which includes a much broader area than the immediate vicinity of Parga itself. In the settlements of the
Fanari plain, Albanian is still spoken by a few people, while in some settlements like
Anthousa and
Kanallaki, the closest existing variants of
Souliotic Albanian are still spoken by a few people in modern times. Various cultural and educational foundations in Parga were erected due to bequests by prominent locals, such as Athanasios Deskas. The modern town in general preserves its traditional architectural features. ==Castle of Parga==