The Battle of Lepanto: 1571

A 2002 ZDF History Documentary narrated by Nick F. Bolton and Martin Heckmann. Audio in English.

The Battle of Lepanto took place on 7 October 1571 when a galley fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of Venice, the Papacy (under Pope Pius V), Spain, Republic of Genoa, Duchy of Savoy, the Knights of Malta and others, defeated a force of Ottoman galleys.

The 5-hour battle was fought at the northern edge of the Gulf of Patras, off western Greece, where the Ottoman forces sailing westwards from their naval station in Lepanto met the Holy League forces, which had come from Messina, in the morning of Sunday 7 October. Of the major naval battles fought solely between rowing vessels, this was the last in world history.

Follow an expedition to find the battlefield and the remains of the Lepanto Battle and learn about the greatest naval battle in world history.