Celebrations for the Battle of Lepanto

This year, the representation of the Battle of Lepanto will take place in the night of October 12th, 2013, in the historic port of Nafpaktos, as part of the 442nd anniversary since the year of the battle.

The Battle of Lepanto (older name for Nafpaktos) took place in October 1571, when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, defeated the fleet of the Ottoman Empire after five hours of fighting in the bay of Nafpaktos. In fact, the famous Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes had taken place in that battle, at the age of 23, serving the Spanish infantry. During the fight, Cervantes got three gunshots and lost his left hand.

The impressive representation of the battle will start on Saturday evening at 20:30 pm. Parallel events have started since October 5th and will last till October 13th, 2013, including sailing competitions, exhibition of ship miniatures in Fetiye Mosque in Nafpaktos, history lectures in the Cultural Centre, guided tours in the Castle of Nafpaktos and Botsari Museum and also a chess tournament in Psani Beach.

The celebrations will end on Sunday October 13th with a Holy Mass in the Cathedral of Saint Demetrius in the centre of Nafpaktos and procession from the Cathedral to the port. Such celebrations are repeated every year in Nafpaktos during the month of October.