Battle of Lepanto 1571: Messina to the Gulf of Patras

The Holy League fleet came together at Messina, Sicily. The various Christian contingents met the main Venetian force under Sebastiano Venier there in July and August 1571. The combined fleet left in two sections on 15 and 16 September.

Location precision: The sources name Messina but not a specific quay, so the pin marks the port area.

On the way east the fleet took on reinforcements at Corfu. A scouting party under Gil de Andrade had reported about 150 Ottoman ships plundering the island's coast, which gave John of Austria the idea of catching them. The Venetian Old Fortress above the town had already held out against the Ottoman siege of 1571, though the countryside around it was devastated.

On 6 October John of Austria and the fleet reached the rocky islets just north of the opening of the Gulf of Corinth. They waited for a while in the port then called Val d'Alessandria, today the port of Sami in Kefalonia. Early on 7 October they sailed for the Gulf of Patras, where the Ottoman fleet lay.

Location precision: The pin marks the modern port of Sami, which the source identifies with the old Val d'Alessandria.

The battle was fought here on 7 October 1571. In the centre, Ali Pasha's galley drove into the flagship Real as far as the fourth rowing bench, and hand-to-hand fighting began. By the end the Christians had captured 117 galleys and sunk or destroyed some 83 others.

Location precision: The battle took place over open water; the pin marks the Gulf of Patras, not the exact position of the fleets.

The Ottoman fleet sailed west from its naval station at Lepanto, the Venetian name for Nafpaktos. Before the battle one Ottoman commander, Sirocco, advised taking refuge under the fortress of Lepanto and waiting for autumn to wear down the Christians. Today the port and castle are the town's main attraction, with Venetian remains, monuments to the battle and a statue of Miguel de Cervantes.

Location precision: The pin marks the castle of Nafpaktos; the battle itself was fought out in the gulf.

Visitor guidance: The port and castle are the main sights of Nafpaktos; battle monuments and the Cervantes statue stand at the port.

In Rome the victory was celebrated at Santa Maria in Aracoeli, which in 1571 hosted the celebrations honouring Marcantonio Colonna. The church's compartmented ceiling was gilded and painted, finished in 1575, to thank the Blessed Virgin for the victory. The basilica can be visited.

Visitor guidance: An active basilica; the ceiling is visible from the nave.