Page "Corfu" Paragraph 53

The second great siege of Corfu took place in 1716, during the last Turkish-Venetian War.

After the conquest of the Peloponnese in 1715, the Ottoman fleet appeared in Butrinto opposite Corfu.

On 8 July the Turkish fleet, carrying 33, 000 men, sailed to Corfu from Butrinto and established a beachhead at Ipsos.

The same day, the Venetian fleet encountered the Turkish fleet off the channel of Corfu and defeated it in the ensuing naval battle.

On 19 July, after taking a few outlying forts, the Ottoman army reached the hills around the city of Corfu and laid siege to it.

Despite repeated assaults and heavy fighting, the Turks were unable to breach the defences and were forced to raise the siege after 22 days.

The 5, 000 Venetians and foreign mercenaries, together with 3, 000 Corfiotes, under the leadership of Count von der Schulenburg who commanded the defence of the island, were victorious once more.

The success was owed in no small part to the extensive fortifications, where Venetian castle engineering had proven itself once again against considerable odds.

The repulsion of the Ottomans was widely celebrated in Europe, Corfu being seen as a bastion of Western civilization against the Ottoman tide.

Today, however, this role is often relatively unknown or ignored, but was celebrated in Juditha triumphans by the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi.