I - 7 : The Venetian Families of Methoni

One week to sailing – in exactly 168 hours we will board the Myra.

Venetian Tower guarding the Port of Methoni - we visited once in 2017

294 km south-west of Athens or a good three hours by car lies the ancient town of Methoni. The giant bastions and much of the medieval port still stand but the space where people once lived is empty. Methoni was often fought over, the last time during the Greek War of Independence when the Egyptian Army, who fought for the Sultan in Istanbul, made it is Head Quarter and massacred its people. After the war, in 1830, a new Methoni was built outside the walls. It was a sign of confidence that the century long conflicts were finally over. Indeed, war never returned to Methoni ever since.

View of Methoni from a Drone - the massive Venetian Bastions are clearly visible

To tell the town’s entire history is beyond the scope of this blog. What we see today is the Methoni of the Venetians and the Turks. The remains of ancient Greece, Rome and Byzantium are long gone. The town was an import port for the Byzantium Empire from where it launched the reconquest of Italy by General Belisarius in 535 AD. It was the last safe harbor on the Peloponnese before crossing the Ionian Sea to Sicily. The Venetians always had an eye on this location. Their east-west trade from the Holy Land and Egypt could have made good use of a safe port on the south-western tip of the Peloponnese.

Gravure of Methoni from the 15th Century when it was a thriving Venetian Port

As fate and Venice’s mischievous re-direction of the 4^th crusade to Constantinople had it, the opportunity to capture Methoni presented itself in 1209. Venice supported the Frankish Knight Geoffrey de Villehardouin in his conquest of the Peloponnese. In return, he ceded Methoni and its twin town Koroni to the Serene Republic. From 1209 to 1500 AD the town was governed by Venice and considered as its eyes and ears in the east. From here, the Venetian fleet could control the Ionian Sea, access the Adriatic and deploy to the Aegean. The two towns were of strategic importance. They were so well fortified that the Ottoman Sultan Bayazid II had to bring a 100’000 strong army with 500 siege guns to take it. Once taken, he decapitated every male older than 10 years and sold the rest of the population into slavery. For a brief interval from 1686 – 1715, Venice recaptured Methoni but lost it again. It remained Turkish to 1830.

Russian Bombardment of Methoni in 1770 when the Russian Empire occupied the Cyclades

According to local tourist guides, the coat of arms of the Venetian families who ruled Methoni are still carved into the town walls. Venice run its overseas territories with civilian governors and army officers  who were appointed for a limited period of time – all from the 101 ruling Venetian families.

Coat of Arms of 8 of the 101 Noble Families who governed Venice for Centuries

The rotation made sure that no local nobility developed which one day could claim these territories for themselves. Still, local expertise and the command of the Greek language was necessary to rule efficiently. Thus, over time, a small number of Venetian families emerged who had spent so much time in Methoni that they intimately knew local customs. Often, a branch of these families settled in Methoni. The town’s population of 7’000 souls was half Greek, half Venetian.

The Villa Forscarini Rossi near Padua can now be rented for romantic Weddings

The most prominent Venetian families who governed Methoni were the Foscarini who are said to have arrived in the Venetian Laguna by 876 AD. Marco Foscarini made it to Doge (1696 – 1763) and the family owned large properties in Northern Italy and Cyprus. The fall of Cyprus to the Ottoman in 1570 almost bankrupted the family.

The Klis Fortress 20 km inland from Split, the large Dalmatian Coastat town

Another prominent governing Venetian family were the Foscolo. Its most prominent member was the Venetian Commander Leonardo Foscolo (1588 – 1660) who stormed the Klis fortress near Split during the Cretan War and made the large Turkish garrison surrender.

Palazzo Bembo (the pink Palace with the 2 rows of Balconies) is today a Hotel near Rialto

The last family to mention are the Bembo who migrated from Bologna to Venice when Byzantium lost control of mainland Italy. They were merchants and skilled seaman. The family’s two most prominent sons were Cardinal Pietro Bembo (1539) and Giovanni Bembo who defeated the Uscocchi pirates and became doge in 1635. Since the late 13^th century the family lived in its own palace on the Canale Grande. The Palazzo is today a luxury hotel.

Wonder whether we will find the Coats of Arms on the Seaside of Methoni ...

We will sail into Methoni harbor on our second last day this summer. I cannot wait to hunt for these Coat of Arms and will report on 7 August once we found them.

... or on the massive Walls protecting the town on the Landside