The dark years after the Turkish conquest up to the times of the Greek rebirth are handled in the next hall, giving special emphasis to the Navy actions of the Greek War of Independence.

The outbreak of the Greek War of Independence is strongly connected with the economic growth and the intellectual stir of the unredeemed Greeks during the 18th century. The accumulation of wealth and the spreading of the liberal and revolutionary European messages to the Greeks were mainly the result of the development of the merchant marine, whereas they were realized by the class of rich Greek merchants which was created during the Turkish Rule.

The Greek merchant marine bloomed after the middle of the 18th century, being privileged by the international historical conditions which allowed the Greek merchants and ship-owners to participate in international trade. Additionally, the Kioutsouk Kainartzi Treaty (1768-1774) was a significant point in history. According to this treaty, Greek ships could sail with the Russian flag and cross freely through the Straits of Euxinos Pontos. The result of this was that the transportation of Russian Grain to Western Europe passed to the hands of Greek seamen, subjects of the Ottoman Empire. The museum’s historical archive includes the Russian navigation permit which was granted in 1801 to the Hydriote ship “Epaminondas”.

The most common type of ship used by the Greek merchants for the purposes of sea trading was that of the brig. The brigs were small two-masted sailing ships with a displacement of 250 - 350 tons. They were armed with 8 to 16 canons to face the danger of pirates who raided in the seas of the Mediterranean. The exhibition includes the ship model of the Hydriote historical brig ”Aris”, which played an important part in the naval struggle. The museum also boasts a collection of ship canons of those days. The revenues from those commercial undertakings for the Greek ship-owners were extraordinary. Thus, the greatest part of those revenues went to the financing of the Revolution. The three islands which had the greatest merchant marine fleets were Hydra (186 ships), Spetses (64 ships) and Psara (40 ships). After the declaration of the Greek War of Independence in the Peloponnese those same merchant ships were converted into war ships. The audiovisual material of the exhibition informs visitors about the names of the ships and the captains of the fleets of the three islands. The smaller fleets of the other Aegean islands were added at a later stage. One of the most important relics of the Museum collections is the original flag of the revolution which belonged to the ship of Lazaros Katsilieris Mousios, a fighter from Spetses. The flag is placed in this hall. The ships of the Greek revolutionaries were poorly armoured and therefore, in the case of a sea conflict, they were unable to face the line ships of the ottoman fleet which had two or three rows of canons. Practically, the fighters placed against the huge war ships the fire ships called bourlota. With these ships they managed to inflict severe losses and terrify their enemy. The half model of a fire ship gives a detailed explanation of the construction and operation of this extremely effective weapon. The famous painting by Konstantinos Volanakis depicting the bombing of the Turkish frigate at Eressos of Lesvos by the fire ship of Dimitrios Papanikolis from Psara is part of the museum collection. This painting represents in a memorable way the destruction of the colossal ship and the agony in the eyes of the crew in view of the coming tragic end. In 1824, when the War of Independence had gained ground in the Peloponnese, the first signs of material exhaustion and failure of the Greek fleet started emerging. It was then that the provisional administration of the revolted Greeks ensured the reinforcement of the fleet through the purchase of two new war ships. These were the frigate “Hellas”, built in the America, and the paddle-steamer “Karteria”, which was constructed in England. The ships arrived in Greece in 1826. The models of those first national ships are displayed in this hall. The victorious outcome of the historical naval battle of Navarino which took place on the 20th October 1827, proved decisive for the positive outcome of the War of Independence. The Turkish-Egyptian fleet which had gathered in the bay of Pilos (Navarino), suffered a crushing defeat by the allied fleets of Great Britain, France and Russia. In the museum’s permanent exhibition a reference is made to this important incident of both the Greek and the European history in general. This reference has taken the form of paper clippings and documents of those days that refer to the incident, parts of ships and weapons drawn up from the sea of Navarino and also important fine art works created by the British painter and etcher George Phillip Reinagle as well as the famous Greek seascape painter Konstantinos Volanakis.

A written permission for the brig “Epaminondas”,
to fly the Russian flag and navigate in the Mediterranean. It is sealed and sanctioned by the Russian imperial seal.
Collection No: 1.215

View of the hall dedicated to
the Hellenic War of Independence.

View of the hall dedicated to
the Hellenic War of Independence.

Model of the paddle-steamer “Karteria”.
Collection No: 279