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General view eastern side

All the photos of this page:
Hans-Rudolf Hower, 2004

North-western inscription inside

Inscription outside

North-eastern inscription inside

South-western inscription inside

South-eastern inscription inside

ANDREAS LONTOS

Captain of the revolutionary army.

NIKITAS STAMATELOPOULOS

Revolutionary commander, nephew of Theodoros Kolokotronis.

ODYSSEAS ANDROUTSOS

In a first time he was an important armatolos (for details see Georgios Karaiskakis), but then he became a famous military leader of the Greek revolutionary army and commander of the Athenian castle of Acropolis, who saved Greece from the Turkish army in some critical moments but was often accused of using unfair methods and suspected to be a traitor.

ILIAS MAVROMICHALE

This name seems to have lost its final "s" in the Munich monument and also appears as "Mavromichalis" in some documents. The man was one of the revolutionary commanders who liberated Kalamata. He seems to belong to a family which later played a fatal role in Greek history, because the first president of the free state of Greece was assassinated by Konstantin and Georgios Mavromichales (father and son). For more details see our comment to the south-eastern inscription.

ALEXANDROS MAVROKORDATOS

President of the first National Convention, which created a sort of liberal Greek constitution in 1822. Mavrokordatos represented the democratic wing of the liberation mouvement.

ANDREAS MIAOULIS

Greek admiral, victorious against the Turkish navy, for several years.

IOANNIS KOLETTIS

Member of the revolutionary administration together with Alexandros Mavrokordatos and Georgios Koundouriotis, minister under king Otto von Bayern, opponent of Andreas Metaxas. His name is sometimes spelt with a single "t".

PATRIARCHIS GRIGORIOS

This is the Greek orthodox patriarch who was lynched by hanging on the portal of a church in Constantinople, in 1821 (as well as other Christians).

RIGAS FERAEOS

He wrote the national song which became the Greek rebels’ hymn for many years.

GERMANOS PALEON PATRON

This seems to be the name of the Greek archbishop Germanos from Patras (or Patrai, litterally "G. from the old Patras"), who organized and directed the 1821 rebellion of Moreas, in collaboration with his friends Andreas Lontos (see North-Western Inscription) and Andreas Zaimis (see South-Western Inscription).

DIMITRIOS YPSILANTIS

After Kapodistrias’ refusal, he was the supreme leader of the Philiki Eteria (Circle of Friends, mentioned in the South-Eastern Inscription) from 1819 on. He called together the first National Convention, which created a sort of liberal Greek constitution in 1822. In fact, Ypsilantis essentially represented the military, non democratic wing of the liberation mouvement.

THEODOROS KOLOKOTRONIS

He was one of the main military leaders of the Moreas rebellion and represented the non democratic wing of the liberation mouvement. In 1834, a sentence of 20 years’ emprisonment was passed on him for conspiracy against the Bavarian regency. He was pardoned and released by Otto von Bayern in 1835.

ANDREAS METAXAS

Minister under king Otto von Bayern, oppenent of Ioannis Kolettis.

BUBULINA LASCARINA

In English-language documents you may find the same name written as "Lascarina Bubulina" whilst French-speaking authors prefer "Lascarine Boubouline", the order of first and second name not being always the same. Nowadays there is also the transcription Laskarina Mpoumpoulina. This comes from the development of modern Greek consonants, where "B" (beta) has got the pronunciation of an English "V" whilst "MP" (mu + pi) reproduces the English sound "B". Very often "Bouboulina", "Bubulina", "Boubouline", "Mpoumpoulina", or similar (depending on the language) is used alone, either as the name of the historical heroine or as a metaphor for any heroic woman.

Lascarina Bubulina (1771 - 1825) was born inside the Turkish prison of Constantinople when her mother visited her imprisoned - and dying - husband. As a young woman, Bubulina married twice, but both of her husbands were killed in sea battles against the pirates, who were an omnipresent plague at that time. Widow and mother of seven children, she had also been enormously rich due to the riches left by her two husbands. Bubulina even managed to increase her fortune and to defend it against all attempts of confiscation by the Turkish administration. She began to build ships, for trade and for the revolution against the Turks. Thus she became the only woman playing a very important military role in the Greek war of independence. The crushing success of the Greek revolutionary navy would have been unthinkable without Bubulina's massive contribution. She even managed to be a member of the Philiki Eteria (Circle of Friends), which was normally reserved to men. Starting the revolution in her own harbor of Spetses and commanding her own vessels with her sons and her half-brothers, Bubulina defeated the Turks in many battles and was considered as a peer of General Kolokotronis.

In 1825, Bubulina was ingloriously killed in a dispute with another family in Spetses, but she remains in the Greeks' minds as the greatest heroine of their war of independence.

KARL NORMANN

German volunteer commanding a military body of volunteers coming from France, Germany, Italy, and Poland. He was first wounded, then killed in mission.

MARKOS BOTSARIS

Rebel and military commander. He died in mission, in 1823.

GEORGIOS KOUNTOURIOTIS

Rebel and military commander, from Hydra.

GEORGE NOEL BYRON

This is no one else than the famous writer Lord George Noel Byron, who left Italy, where he was living and writing, in order to support the Greek rebels in their struggle for independence. But he fell ill and died shortly after his arrival in Greece.

CHARLES FABVIER

French commander of a revolutionary military body, known for particular bravery.

GEORGIOS KARAISKAKIS

Karaiskakis was an important armatolos working for the Turkish administration. But this changed when the Greek revolution began. He then became a commander of the revolutionary army.

"During ottoman occupation no rayas [= Greeks, my note] had the right to ride a horse or to have weapons. Only klephts, who lived in mountains, were experts in the war and the armatoloi. Armatoloi had for centuries been hired by the local turkish authorities, initially to guard the mountain passes and later for the general maintenance of law and order. Armatoloi were also Romioi and many times there was [not] any distinction between law-breaking klephts and law-enforcing armatoloi. Great armatoloi were Odysseas Androutsos and Georgios Karaiskakis. Now armatoloi and klephtes were the main armed forces against the oppressor." (Greek War of Independence)

THOMAS COCHRANE

This is the philhellenist Lord Cochrane, who went to Greece in 1827, temporarily managed to reconcile the different tendencies represented in the National Convention, and was nominated supreme commander of the Greek navy (the army being commanded by another philhellenist, Sir Ricard Church, at the same time).

IOANNES KAPODISTRIAS

Count Giovanni Antonio Kapodistrias, of noble Dalmatian decent, hence the Italian name of Capo d’Istria, which is a town near Triest). In 1819, he refused to be the supreme leader of the Philiki Eteria (Circle of Friends). Experienced in territorial administration and well-known philhellenist, he was elected president of the free state of Greece in 1827. But as he tried to use his Russian administrational experiences in Greece, he soon became unpopular, and a civil war broke out. Kapodistrias resigned and was finally assassinated when entering a church, in 1831, by Konstantin Mavromichales (Petros Mavromichales’ brother) and Konstantin’s son Georgios.

GABRIEL EYNARD

Jean-Gabriel Eynard was a Swiss banker living in Geneva. Thanks to him, Geneva became a center of all sorts of support for the Greek rebels (philhellenistic associations, fund collection, volunteers for military missions, etc.).

Tombasis

Why does this successful Greek admiral’s name NOT appear in this list although he defeated the Turkish navy? He is not mentioned by Greek War of Independence either. If you know something about this, please tell us! Thank you in advance.

THE CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

This was a secret political club named "Philiki Eteria" (which may be translated by "Circle of Friends" or "Friendly Society"), founded in Odessa in 1814, and destinated to struggle for the liberation of Greece from Turkish domination. Already in 1819, most of important Greek personalities were club members.

THE HOLY ASSEMBLY

This is the synod of the Greek orthodox church, which participated in the Greeks’ struggle for liberation from the islamic Turkish domination.

THE PHILHELLENISTS

This was a loose association of European people that supported the Greek liberation mouvement in different ways (public relations, fund collection, diplomacy, military missions, etc.).