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10/05/2024

ANOTHER GORGEOUS SHOT OF THE BELEM GOING THROUGH THE CANAL OF CORINTH!

10/05/2024

13th CENTURY CASTLE OF KALAMATA IN THE FERTILE MESSENIAN PLAIN
"Kalamata’s castle has Venetian memories, too, and I noticed the Republic’s sign-manual, a winged lion, upon it. For, when Morosini recovered the Morea for his country towards the end of the seventeenth century, he occupied the old stronghold of the Villehardouins, thinking thereby to overawe the untamed Mainats. The Turks spared the castle; let us hope that the Greeks will preserve so interesting and picturesque a memorial of the Frankish period."—British Medievalist William Miller, “A Tour through the Peloponnesos”, January 1905.
The castle of Kalamata was actually conquered twice under the leadership of Captain General Francesco Morosini. The first time, in 1659, with the Chevalier Michel de Grémonville leading the army (da sbarco), and the second time on September 14, 1685 with Hannibal Freiherr von Degenfeld in charge of the troops. The walls and gates were repaired in the 1690s to provide a safe haven for the locals against the frequent raids of the Maniots.

04/05/2024

KELAFA IN THE MANI PENINSULA
Kelafa (Venetian Chielefa, Kelefa in Greek) is an Ottoman fort built in 1670 by Grand Vizier Köprülüzade Fazıl Ahmed Pasha that is situated on a plateau 240 meters above Porto Vitilo (the bay of Itilo). Military presence at Kelafa, Zarnata, and Pasova (Passava), reestablished firm Ottoman control over the entire region.
With these frontier forts, the Grand Vizier compelled the Maniates (allies of Venice during the War of Candia) to pay tribute to the Sublime Porte. From 1670 to 1821 at no time were the local populations independent from either the Venetian, nor the Ottoman empires, although they always tried their best to escape payment of the tax, the mactu: “now none of them are exempted from paying Tribute, but a few in the Mountains.”-Dr. Jacob Spon, 1675.
. Aerial image by nikos.tsiak.

28/04/2024

MORA KALESI (RIO) MODIFIED IN THE 1710s WAS RENAMED "FORTEZZA NUOVA DI MOREA" BY THE VENETIANS
In July 1706, Francesco Grimani’s engineers proposed a series of interventions on some of the most important fortresses of the Peloponnese. The Castle of the Morea was allocated the lion’s share with a staggering 152,015 reali. Once completed, it would be re-baptized “Fortezza Nuova di Morea” for the occasion. In his relazione dated November 20, 1714, Provveditor General of the Sea Agostino Sagredo informed the Senate that the works, that had cost 45,000 reali up to that point, were still far from completed.

MORA KALESI (RIO) MODIFIED IN THE 1710s WAS RENAMED "FORTEZZA NUOVA DI MOREA" BY THE VENETIANS
In July 1706, Francesco Grimani’s engineers proposed a series of interventions on some of the most important fortresses of the Peloponnese. The Castle of the Morea was allocated the lion’s share with a staggering 152,015 reali. Once completed, it would be re-baptized “Fortezza Nuova di Morea” for the occasion. In his relazione dated November 20, 1714, Provveditor General of the Sea Agostino Sagredo informed the Senate that the works, that had cost 45,000 reali up to that point, were still far from completed.
-Photo by michaelev23 on Instagram.

24/04/2024

ANAVARIN-i CEDID (NEOKASTRO, PYLOS)
Fortress built by the Ottoman Turks in 1573-79. Under the supervision of Mustafa, Anavarin-i Atik’s governor and architect Kara Şaban, the new fortress, called Anavarin-i Cedid, was erected directly on the bedrock to guard the Thouri pass, the southern entrance of the Navarino bay, between the continent and the island of Sphacteria. Foreground: Sultan Murad III mosque (Now church of the Transfiguration of Christ). Background: Bay of Navarino and Koryphasion peninsula crowned by Anavarin-i Atik castle (Port de Jonc/Zonchio/Paleokastro).

ANAVARIN-i CEDID (NEOKASTRO, PYLOS)
Fortress built by the Ottoman Turks in 1573-79. Under the supervision of Mustafa, Anavarin-i Atik’s governor and architect Kara Şaban, the new fortress, called Anavarin-i Cedid, was erected directly on the bedrock to guard the Thouri pass, the southern entrance of the Navarino bay, between the continent and the island of Sphacteria. Foreground: Sultan Murad III mosque (Now church of the Transfiguration of Christ). Background: Bay of Navarino and Koryphasion peninsula crowned by Anavarin-i Atik castle (Port de Jonc/Zonchio/Paleokastro).
Photo by Guillén Pérez.

23/04/2024

DID YOU KNOW? THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF NAPOLI DI ROMANIA (NAUPLIA/NAFPLIO) WAS DRAMATICALLY ENLARGED IN THE EARLY 1500s
In the last quarter of the 15th century, the Venetian town was cramped inside a space of some 500 meters by 150 at its largest, the extremely troubled situation of the end of the Greek Middle Ages not allowing the population from setting up residence outside of the protection of the walls of the Acronauplia. After the catastrophic loss of Negroponte (Euboea) in 1470 to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, under the supervision of Podestà Vettore Pasqualigo, engineer Antonio Gambello of Bergamo embarked on new extensive works which lasted four decades.

DID YOU KNOW? THE BEAUTIFUL CITY OF NAPOLI DI ROMANIA (NAUPLIA/NAFPLIO) WAS DRAMATICALLY ENLARGED IN THE EARLY 1500s

In the last quarter of the 15th century, the Venetian town was cramped inside a space of some 500 meters by 150 at its largest, the extremely troubled situation of the end of the Greek Middle Ages not allowing the population from setting up residence outside of the protection of the walls of the Acronauplia. After the catastrophic loss of Negroponte (Euboea) in 1470 to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, under the supervision of Podestà Vettore Pasqualigo, engineer Antonio Gambello of Bergamo embarked on new extensive works which lasted four decades.

From the early 1500s, the Nauplian landscape was altered dramatically, as the marshes that had formed a kind of arc on the northeast side of the town were gradually dried up. The wetlands were painstakingly reclaimed using earthworks, this in turn enabled to push back the shoreline at some 200 meters from the Acronauplia heights.

The Venetians applied their unparalleled experience in mastering hydraulic problems in their native lagoon. Wooden posts were planted to lay the foundations of an early 16th century city defended by walls bathed by the crystalline waters of the Argolic gulf.

The Republic succeeded in its challenge against nature: the surface area of Napoli di Romania was more than doubled, the natural elements tamed. Not only did the Venetians improve the urban organization of the city, they transformed it into a formidable stronghold seemingly capable of withstanding any attack.

-Read more in https://www.amazon.com/VENETIAN-OTTOMAN-CASTLES-PELOPONNESE-centuries/dp/B0CQVPLFVB

21/04/2024

CASTEL DA MAR OF MODON (METHONI) WITH ROUGH SEAS

Since the 13th Century, Modon with its large natural harbor has been an essential stopover for the merchant ships coming from the eastern Mediterranean or the Ionian sea and a military base for the Venetian navy. The fortress stretches for about 600 m from the massive early Renaissance Bembo ravelin (or bastion), to the sea gate called the San Marco gate, and beyond to the medieval polygonal Castel da Mar (Castel da Lanterna) erected on Akra Soukouli at its southern end.

Furthermore, there was another natural harbor 4 nautical miles to the South, at Porto Longo, in the island of Sapientza, where in November 1354 Genoese admiral Paganino Doria had captured the entire Venetian fleet at anchor.

Outside the fortress, on the other side of the wide moat cut through solid rock from 1358, there was a village of few dozen houses with their orchards, gardens, vineyards dating back to the 14th Century. It was the dwelling place of the Greeks who had an Orthodox bishop, and was later named "Methoni", as only the Turks had been allowed to live in the fortress until the return of the Venetians, and it would still be the case after the Ottoman reconquest of 1715, a fact confirmed by Chateaubriand in 1806..

-Read more about Modon in "Defending the Regno di Morea. Antonio Jansic and the Fortress of Modon", Nuova Antologia Militare, n2, Rome, 2021 and https://www.amazon.com/VENETIAN-OTTOMAN.../dp/B0CQVPLFVB

17/01/2024

AWESOME NEW BOOK ON THE VENETIAN AND OTTOMAN CASTLES OF THE PELOPONNESE!
https://www.amazon.com/VENETIAN-OTTOMAN-CASTLES-PELOPONNESE-centuries/dp/B0CQVPLFVB
Castles included in this monograph written by an historian specialist of Medieval - Modern Venetian, Greek and Ottoman history:
I - Corinth (Korinthos) and the Acrocorinth
II -The Larissa (Argos)
III - Napoli di Romania (Nafplio)
IV - Malvasia (Monemvasia)
V - Zarnata
VI - Kelafa (Kelefa)
VII - Coron (Koroni)
VIII - Modon (Methoni)
IX – Zonchio (Paleokastro) X - Anavarin-i Cedid (Neokastro) XI - Mora Kalesi (Rio)

26/11/2023

CORON MID-NOVEMBER 2023
The first written record about Coron (now called "Koroni") is from the Arab El Idrisi, a close adviser to King Roger II of Sicily. Towards the end of the twelfth century, he described the site which was then only "a small town with a fort above the sea." In fact, the castle was hardly impressive at the time: when the crusaders Guillaume de Champlitte and Geoffroy de Villehardouin's passed by the city in 1204, the place surrendered without a siege.
But the Venetians wouldn't have it this way. Led by Renier Dandolo, the son of the famous doge, the patrician attacked Coron and Modon the following year and drove out his allies. Indeed the Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae of what used to be the Byzantine Empire had attributed these two fortresses to Venice, the Frankish knights had thus encroached on the "rightful" territories of the Republic. The conflict that followed between Geoffroy Villehardouin and the Venetians lasted only until 1209, when the Chevalier from Champagne confirmed the possession of all Messinia to the Republic. From 1206 to 1500 without interruption, the two twin fortresses displayed the banner of Saint Mark. They were called "the eyes of the Serenissima".
While Modon served as a stopover for pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land, Coron defended the entrance to the Messinian Gulf, which only the Venetian galleys could enter. The Republic managed to keep its possessions in the south of the Morea in a state of remarkable tranquility in the midst of the epic power struggle fought between the French, Byzantines, Catalans, Genoese and Turks.
During the summer of 1500, Sultan Bayezid II at the command of a huge 100,000 army first conquered Modon and then turned to Coron where the Greek inhabitants forced the Venetian garrison to surrender without a fight. Francesco Morosini reconquered the fortress after a very difficult siege in 1685 and the Venetians held it again until 1715.

06/08/2022

SOUTH OF THE MANI PENINSULA THIS AFTERNOON... ⛅️🌊

30/07/2022

THE RIDOMO CANYON AT ITS NARROWEST, MESSENIA
Ridomo Canyon stretches from Mount Neraidovouna (2031 m) in the Taygetos Mountain, all the way to the coast, ending at Santova beach, 12 km south of Kalamata. The total length of the gorge is about 25 km. The width varies from little more than 1 m, at this point, close to the ancient settlement of Pigadia, to more than 100 m as it opens next to the sea. This is what Pausanias called the "Valley of the Pigs" in Classical Antiquity.
The old Pigadiotiko stone bridge, 60 m above, is a part of an ancient stone path that connected the small mountain villages between them and to Zarnata, the main settlement of the region in the 17th-19th centuries, residence of the Ottoman pasha of Mani since 1670.
In case of flash floods, the canyon is to be avoided at all costs for safety reasons. In the summer, the stream disappears, but when heavy rain fall on the mountain above, the narrow canyon can turn into a deadly trap in a matter of minutes as the huge volume of the river and its speed will carry everything away, including large boulders. Check the weather forecast and watch for any sign of change in the weather conditions!

30/07/2022

CORON (KORONI/KORON): THE SOUTH BEACH UNDERNEATH THE VENETIAN/OTTOMAN FORTIFIED TOWN

30/07/2022

CORON (KORONI/KORON): INTERIOR OF THE EARLY 16th CENTURY OTTOMAN HOLLOW TOWER
Due to the imminent risk of collapse, the last huge Ottoman artillery tower that survives at Coron to this day (since its north counterpart was blown up by the Germans in 1944), consolidation works are currently being done inside the tholos chamber. Let us hope it will be enough to save this wonder of Turkish military architecture!

05/05/2022

FOREGROUND: THE BRAND-NEW ALTEYA CATAMARAN (2022). BACKGROUND: THE 134-METER LONG WIND STAR (1985). ARGOLIC GULF THIS AFTERNOON.

01/12/2021

TOP OF THE TAYGETOS MOUNTAIN COVERED WITH SNOW
View from Likodimo Mountain, across the Messenian Bay, this afternoon.

25/11/2021

HELLENISTIC-ERA STONE BRIDGE OF THE ANCIENT ROAD SPARTA - KARDAMILI
Sparta and Kardamili were connected through the Royal Road, parts of it (including this bridge built 22 centuries ago over the Rassina River) survive to this day. This road was used by the Spartans, when, during the Peloponnesian War, they lost the possession over other ports.

08/11/2021

IMPORTANT BRONZE AGE ACROPOLIS OF THE PYLIAN KINGDOM ON THE NICHORIA RIDGE, MESSENIA

The hilltop Bronze Age settlement, called Timitoakee according to John Chadwick, was suddenly abandoned c. 1200 BC after being inhabited for at least 8 centuries. This event is linked to the destruction of the main “Palace of Nestor” 20 km to the west, capital of the Mycenaean Kingdom of Pylos and situated above Navarino Bay, in one of the most populated and flourishing regions of the Bronze Age Hellenic world. The acropolis was essentially deserted in Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman times. Wild boars, deer and wolves lived in the surroundings. The site was partially excavated at the end of the 1960s - early 1970s by the University of Minnesota Messenia Expedition. Artifacts uncovered are on display at the Archaeological Museum of Kalamata.

06/11/2021

OTTOMAN FORTRESS OF "NEW" NAVARINO, (1573), THIS AFTERNOON
After the stunning victory of Holy League at Lepanto on October 7, 1571, the Turks feared the incursions of the Spanish fleet led by Don Juan of Austria. During the fall of 1572, Felipe II's brother did organize a few attacks against the Morean coast, hoping in vain to clash with Kılıç Ali Paşa's elusive fleet. At the end of September, 8,000 Spaniards under the command of the Duke of Parma Alessandro Farnese attempted to dislodge the Turks from the Medieval castle of Navarino (Port de Jonc), but they failed. On October 6, the Spaniards had to re-embark.
The new fortress was erected by the Turks a few months after this attack to ward off further attempts. Called Anavarin, the fort was designed to guard the entrance of the natural harbor, while in the second natural entrance (north of Sphacteria) the Turks dumped enough boulders and stones to prevent passage to large vessels. For the next 113 years (until 1686), the magnificent bay of Navarino enjoyed absolute peace until the return of the Venetians...