Siege of Varnakova

Siege of Varnakova
Part of the Greek War of Independence
The Panagia Varnakova Monastery
Date 20 – 26 May 1826 (6 days) Location Panagia Varnakova Monastery, Phocis, Rumelia Eyalet, Ottoman Empire Result Greek retreat, blowing up of the Monastery by the Turks
Belligerents
Greek revolutionaries	Ottoman Empire
Commanders and leaders
Ioannis Fraggistas Kalyvas	Mustabey Kehayabey
Strength
150	4,000

The Siege of Varnakova in 1826 was one of the military episodes of the Greek War of Independence.

The development of the siege

After the Exodus of Missolonghi, in April 1826, Georgios Karaiskakis, although ill, put up resistance as much as he could in the area, sending detachments of revolutionaries to timely positions against the Kütahı pass. Thus, he sent 150 selected men, led by the hoplitarchs Ioannis Fragistas, Triantafyllos (Apokouritis) and Kastaniotis, ^[1] to the Monastery of Panagia Varnakova. In response, Kütahı sent the perionem Mustabey and Kehayabey with many Turk-Albanians (a force of 4,000 men is reported). The Turks' aim was to capture the Monastery (where Greeks had also taken refuge after the Exodus of Missolonghi) and to establish a garrison. ^[2]

The siege began at dawn on 20 May 1826.

At the end of the siege the Turks placed dynamite in the underground galleries and blew up the monastery, which was rebuilt after 5 years, in 1831, by Ioannis Kapodistrias, who is considered the second founder of the Monastery.

References

1. Κασομούλης Νικόλαος, Ενθυμήματα Στρατιωτικά της Επαναστάσεως των Ελλήνων (1821-1833) - Τόμος Β΄, σελ.334 ψηφιακό τεκμήριο
2. Γεώργιος Π. Κρέμος, Νεωτάτη Γενική Ιστορία, εκδ. Σ. Κ. Βλαστός, Αθήνα 1890, σελ. 906

Sources

• Γεώργιος Π. Κρέμος (1839-1926) (1890). Νεωτάτη Γενική Ιστορία. Εν Αθήναις: Παρά τω εκδότη Σ. Κ. Βλαστώ. pp.  906 . Retrieved July 2, 2012.