Qualla: Siege of Kastania https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:06 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_res/siteimages/rsslogo.png Qualla: Siege of Kastania https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania Siege of Kastania: Introduction https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania/ On the twelfth night of the siege, with two days of ammunition left, the defenders of Kastania decided to break out. They would leave at midnight, when the moon was dark, with men holding the front and rear and the women and children moving through the middle. An old man chose differently. Panagiotaros Venetsakis the elder — over eighty years old, a klepht chieftain of some renown in his younger days — told his family he would stay behind, that he would wait in his tower until the enemy filled it, and then detonate the gunpowder he had stored on the upper floor. He wanted to take as many with him as he could. What followed that night, in the highlands of the Mani in July 1780, cost the defenders most of what they had — and sent a boy named Theodoros Kolokotronis running into the dark.

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/x/c/siege-of-kastania-wp/sqxc-siege-of-kastania-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Siege of Kastania: The Defenders of Kastania https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania/ After the failed Orlov Revolt of 1770, the Maniots occupied an awkward position: technically obligated to pay annual tribute to the Ottomans and to accept a bey of their own choosing, but in practice still raiding Ottoman territory with pirate ships and conducting incursions into...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/x/c/siege-of-kastania-wp/sqxc-siege-of-kastania-the-defenders-of-kastania.mp3 0:06 2 full Siege of Kastania: Twelve Days in the Towers https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania/ Ali Bey opened the siege by sending a negotiator with an offer: call off the attack in exchange for one child from Kolokotronis and one from Panagiotaros. The defenders refused. The Ottomans then discovered that Kastania's tower-houses were harder to bombard than expected — well-...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/x/c/siege-of-kastania-wp/sqxc-siege-of-kastania-twelve-days-in-the-towers.mp3 0:06 3 full Siege of Kastania: The Night of the Twelfth Day https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania/ The Ottomans heard the movement. They attacked before the column could reach the forest. What followed was close fighting in the dark. Konstantinos Kolokotronis died fighting — he fell against seven Ottoman soldiers, sword and pistol in hand. His head was cut off and put on a spe...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/x/c/siege-of-kastania-wp/sqxc-siege-of-kastania-the-night-of-the-twelfth-day.mp3 0:06 4 full Siege of Kastania: What Came After https://qualla.com/siege-of-kastania/ The Ottoman victory at Kastania was not complete. The combined Maniot forces under Tzanetos and Exarchos Grigorakis, arriving after the siege, routed the victorious Ottoman army — though Exarchos was later captured treacherously and hanged. The Maniots sacked the Ottoman castle o...

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]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/q/x/c/siege-of-kastania-wp/sqxc-siege-of-kastania-what-came-after.mp3 0:06 5 full