Lepanto

The Gulf of Lepanto is a long arm of the Ionian Sea that runs east to west and separates the Peloponnesian peninsula to the south from the Greek mainland to the north. Lepanto is the Italian name for the Greek town of Naupactos on the north coast of the Gulf.

On October 7, 1571, the Islamic Ottoman Empire and a Christian alliance of papal, Spanish, Venetian, and Genoese fleets clashed at the Battle of Lepanto. The Ottoman Empire’s ships had been anchored inside the fortified harbor located in the Gulf’s inner portion. On October 5, they began to move slowly westward past the dividing headlands into the outer Gulf of Patras. The Christian fleet was then at Cephalonia, an Ionian island almost directly opposite and parallel to the mouth of the Gulf. On the morning of October 7, the Christian fleet moved toward the Ottomans until only 15 miles of open water separated the forces of Islam from those of Christendom.

Ali Pasha commanded the Turkish fleet numbering more than 300 ships that faced the “Coalition Forces” under the command of Don Juan of Austria. According to naval practices of the time, when two rival fleets assumed their respective battle formations, one side would fire once as a challenge to fight and the opponent would answer by firing two cannons to signify readiness to give battle. That day the challenge came from Ali Pasha’s flagship and it was quickly followed by a double round from Don Juan’s artillery. With the cross and the crescent flags hoisted, the two sides met in one of the most decisive battles in a long history of war. For the first time, the Ottomans were resoundingly defeated.

With the first barrage many Turkish galleys were sunk or badly damaged. By the afternoon, the battle was essentially finished and the waters were stained red and strewn with bodies. Don Juan of Austria’s fleet lost less than 8000 men and only 10 or 15 ships were sunk during the battle. As a result of this battle, the Ottomans, for the first time in several centuries, were left without a navy. Several thousand Christian galley slaves were liberated from Turkish vessels, most of which were burned. The losses on the Ottoman side were almost four times that of the Christians.

Word of the fleet’s stunning victory at Lepanto spread quickly throughout Europe. The Republic of Venice was the first allied state to receive the news. The Doge ordered a week of public celebrations and October 7th was declared a perpetual holiday in memory of the battle. Hundreds of poems, songs, and paintings were produced all over Christian Europe in commemoration of the victory. For the Ottoman Empire, this battle was the beginning of the end.

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