Seitan Pazar in Preveza – a small lane with a lot of history
A few metres that feel different
Seitan Pazar feels different from the surrounding streets after just a few steps. The lane is only around 100 metres long, yet it has a character all of its own.
Beneath the climbing plants that form a kind of green roof over the street, the lane remains almost entirely in the shade. Small shops, simple kafenia, tavernas and local services sit side by side, without any one of them dominating the place. It is precisely this balance that gives Seitan Pazar much of its atmosphere.
Some of the businesses here have been around for a very long time, while others fit naturally in between. Even though we often walk through Seitan Pazar, we notice some detail almost every time that we had never spotted before.
For a brief moment, it really does feel as though time has stood still a little here.
Quick info: Seitan Pazar in Preveza
Location: Historic centre of Preveza, Epirus
Ideal for: local history, small shops, kafenia, tavernas, photography and a quiet stroll
Good to know: Seitan Pazar is only a short stretch of street, but it is one of the historic corners of the old town.
Best time: Really, any time of day. The lane is particularly pleasant on warm days because the plants above the street provide plenty of shade.
Unfiltered tip: Don’t simply walk straight through. The small shop windows, old facades and easily overlooked details are a big part of its charm.
Where to explore: Seitan Pazar in Preveza – View on Google Maps
Where does the name Seitan Pazar come from?
The best-known story about the lane begins with soap.
According to local tradition, an Ottoman commander was not particularly popular with the residents of the neighbourhood. One night, they are said to have rubbed soap onto the steep cobblestones. When the man rode through the street on his horse the following day, the animal supposedly slipped. He is then said to have shouted “Seitan Pazar!” – roughly meaning “Devil’s Market”.
The story is still told in Preveza today and is also presented by the city itself as a local tradition.
There are, however, different versions. In an older folkloric account, the residents are said to have greased the cobblestones not just once but repeatedly, causing Ottoman soldiers wearing nailed shoes to slip on them. Only later, according to this version, was the commander himself affected.
Which version comes closest to what actually happened is almost impossible to establish today. What is certain is that the story has become inseparable from Seitan Pazar.
Three plaques recall the old story
Three marble plaques in the lane tell the story of the soap.
The idea is attributed to Babis Tsokas, a director from Preveza who has close ties to this part of the town. The images were created by the Swedish sculptor Torgny Larsson.
The plaques fit well in this setting. They pick up a story that can probably no longer be fully verified, yet has long since become part of the identity of the lane.
Once a market district of coffee houses and music
Seitan Pazar was not always simply the small lane of tavernas and shops that you see today.
Historical and ethnomusicological research describes this part of Preveza as a market and entertainment district. By the end of the 19th century at the latest, there were numerous coffee houses and venues here where music also played an important role.
Among the music venues of the time were so-called Café Aman and Café Chantant, forms that were also found in other cities around the eastern Mediterranean.
Contemporary descriptions paint a picture of coffee houses where different sections of the population came together and a variety of musical influences could be heard side by side. Ottoman- and Eastern-influenced music met Greek songs and European pieces.
That fits well with Preveza as a port town where people, goods and cultural influences from different directions came together over a long period of time.
Very little of this musical scene is immediately visible today. But this history gives the present-day mix of kafenia, tavernas and small shops another layer of meaning.
An Easter tradition in the middle of the lane
Seitan Pazar also plays a special role on Holy Saturday.
When the bell rings in the morning for the First Resurrection, clay pots are smashed on the paving in Seitan Pazar. Today, the custom is practised at several places in Preveza’s historic centre, but it is particularly closely associated with Seitan Pazar.
There are different explanations for its exact origins.
It is often said that the noise already had a symbolic meaning during Ottoman times. Local historical research, however, also points to older traditions and sees connections with the Venetian period and similar Easter customs on the Ionian Islands.
As with the story of the soap, the origins are less clear-cut than some short explanations might suggest.
Kostas Karyotakis nearby
Just a few steps from Seitan Pazar, on the small Dardanellion Square, stands a bust of Kostas Karyotakis.
The poet lived very close by during his final weeks in Preveza. The house where he stayed at the time is also located in this part of the old town.
This connects this small part of the town with yet another chapter of Preveza’s history.
Theofilos, Kiki and the film “Thysia”
Since 2024, another small memorial in Seitan Pazar has commemorated Theofilos Papageorgiou and Kiki Kastani.
The two young people from Preveza were a couple, but the Second World War prevented them from having a future together. Theofilos, a philologist, was killed at the front in 1940. Kiki died only a few months later during an air raid on Preveza.
Their story is at the heart of the film “Thysia”. Director Babis Tsokas himself grew up in Seitan Pazar, and a large part of the film was shot right here.
That gives the memorial a very direct connection to the place. It does not simply commemorate two people somewhere in Preveza, but stands in an lane closely connected with the story of the director, the film and the town.
Small shops, kafenia and everyday life in the lane
Despite all these stories, Seitan Pazar today does not feel like a historic setting defined only by its past. Among the traces of history, people work, shop, drink coffee and eat.
People sit in the kafenia or tavernas, run an errand in one of the small shops or simply pass through on their way across the old town. Some of the shops seem almost as though they consist of nothing more than a single room and a shop window.
One of them is a traditional barber shop with a particularly long history. It is considered the oldest barber shop still operating in Greece; depending on the source, its history dates back to 1919 or 1920. The old sign above the door still points to this long history. The fact that hair is still being cut here fits perfectly with the impression created by the lane as a whole: the past has not simply been preserved, but remains part of everyday life.
It is exactly this mixture that we particularly like. Seitan Pazar does not feel like a place that has been polished up just for visitors. Shops, local services and places to eat and drink all exist naturally side by side.
And although we walk along here often, we keep noticing things we had previously overlooked: a door, an old sign, a small shop window or some detail on a facade.
Many stories in a small space
Seitan Pazar is often reduced to the story of the soaped cobblestones. That story certainly belongs here, but it tells only part of the picture.
Within a very small area, stories from the Ottoman period, old coffee-house and music culture, literature, Easter traditions, memories of war and the everyday life of the lane today all come together.
That is exactly why it is worth coming here for more than just the well-known story.
For us, Seitan Pazar is one of those small places in Preveza that still has an astonishing amount to tell.
Practical tips for your visit
Location: Seitan Pazar lies right in the historic centre of Preveza and is easy to combine with a walk through the old town.
Allow some time: The lane itself does not take long to explore. But if you want to look at the small shops, plaques and details, or sit down in a kafenio or taverna, you will usually end up staying longer without even noticing.
Holy Saturday: If you are in Preveza at Easter, Seitan Pazar has a very different atmosphere. On the morning of Holy Saturday, smashing clay pots is one of the neighbourhood’s best-known traditions.
Discover more around Preveza
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