Greece - Korina Miller [501]
Kanaris quickly become known for a fearlessness that bordered on the suicidal. While shepherding small boats laden with explosives towards Turkish warships, he would allegedly murmur to himself, ‘Konstanti, you are going to die.’
One of Kanaris’ most famous operations occurred on the night of 6 June 1822. In revenge for Turkish massacres on Chios, the Psariots destroyed Turkish admiral Nasuhzade Ali Pasha’s flagship while the unsuspecting enemy was holding a post-massacre celebration. Kanaris’ forces detonated the powder keg of the Ottoman ship, blowing up 2000 sailors and the admiral himself. Through 1824 Kanaris led three more high-profile attacks against the Sultan that significantly affected the Turks’ abilities to quell the Greek insurrection elsewhere. However, this success would come at a heavy price for the Psariots. Determined to crush the islanders’ revolt, Sultan Mahmud II was forced to entreat the powerful, semi-independent Ottoman viceroy Mohammad Ali (1769–1849) in Kavala. Together with his son, Ibrahim Pasha, Mohammad Ali commanded a personal army and navy of 100,000 men, many Egyptian. (He also enlisted French mercenary sailors left jobless after Napoleon’s defeat.) To win the wily Ali’s support against the Greeks, Mahmud II was forced to reward him with the very auspicious headship of Crete. It was the beginning of the end for the Ottomans’ central control over their increasingly fractious empire.
The Turkish-Egyptian fleet proved just as ruthless as the Sultan had been promised. When Psara was captured on 21 June 1824 thousands who had failed to escape were butchered or sold into slavery; island lore recounts that women and children flung themselves from a craggy cliff (visible when arriving at Psara port) rather than suffer such an ignominious fate.
Despite the tragic destruction of his island, Kanaris continued to successfully harass the Turks. Still, it took the combined forces of Britain, Russia and France to completely destroy the Ottoman navy, at the Battle of Navarino off the Peloponnese on 20 October 1827.
After Greece was liberated, Konstantine Kanaris became an admiral in the new navy. Upon retiring from duty, he went into politics and was a high-ranking minister in various governments before serving briefly as prime minister in 1844, a post he held another five times. He didn’t live to see Psara itself liberated (during the First Balkan War, in 1912).
The admirable admiral of Psara has been honoured frequently by the Greek Navy. Since 1941 several destroyers have been named after him. British and American naval vessels have also been transferred to Greece, and graced with Kanaris’ name. The most recent reminder of this maritime legend arrived in 2002, in the form of a pretty kick-ass frigate, the FFG Kanaris.
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Throughout town, you will notice Psara’s memorable red-and-white flag waving proudly in the breeze. Emblazoned with the revolutionary slogan Eleftheria i Thanatos (Freedom or Death), it features a red cross at its centre, with an upturned spear jutting from one side, while on the other is an anchor apparently impaling a green snake; as if the reference to the Islamic rule of the Turks wasn’t apparent enough, there’s an upside-down crescent moon and star under these items for good measure. The yellow dove of freedom flutters to one side.
Sights & Activities
The Monastery of Kimisis Theotokou (Monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin), 12km north of town, is Psara’s main cultural attraction. Unless you find a lift, it’s a two-hour walk past the rolling hills, scrubland and weird red rocks that comprise the island’s topography. You may see only goats and beehives (Psara is famous for its invigorating thyme honey) on the way, so check ahead to be sure the monastery will be open.
Psara allegedly has 65 other churches (most, family-maintained chapels). In town, the Church of Metamorfosi tou Sotiris (Church of the Metamorphosis of the Saviour) is a five-minute walk inland