The Navarino Fortress in the 1768-1774 Ottoman-Russian War

Conquered definitively by the Ottomans in 1501, Navarino was one of the strategically important places of the Peloponnese and even the entire Eastern Mediterranean. A new fortress (Anavarin-i cedid) was built in a modern style (trace italienne) in order to ensure the security of the port it owned in the region, which would show a continuous development in the Ottoman administration and military organization. The fortress in question, although it was captured by the Venetians in 1686 during the Ottoman-Holy Alliance Wars that started after the Siege of Vienna II, it was conquered again as a result of the expedition over the Morea in 1715 and work was started for its repair. In the following years increasing Russian threat, especially as of the second half of the XVIII. century, turned into a war in 1768 and the state of war between Ottoman-Russia continued intermittently for about six years until the Küçük Kaynarca Treaty was signed in July 1774. In addition to this, one of the fronts of this war, which resulted in the heavy defeat of the Ottomans, was the Peloponnese Peninsula. In 1770, a Greek revolt broke out in the peninsula with the provocation of the Russians and it grew in a short time. Meanwhile, Navarino, which was besieged and occupied by the Russsians, but the fortress was recaptured and the uprising was completely suppressed shortly after this event, which constituted the turning point of the rebellion. However, the readiness continued in the war and after the seizure, action was taken for the repair of the fortress, as well as the size of the garrison was increased and efforts were made to supply it. Ultimately, the main subject of our study was to examine how the Navarino Fortress was fortified and equipped during the Ottoman-Russian war between 1768-1774. Keywords Navarino Fortress, Ottoman, Russian, Morea, Repair, Troops