Qualla: Spetses https://qualla.com/spetses en-us © 2026 Bendyline Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:34:07 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Spetses https://qualla.com/spetses Spetses: Introduction https://qualla.com/spetses/ Photo credit Qweasdqwe, CC BY-SA 4.0. The island's revolution flag read simply: Freedom or Death. Spetses raised it on the morning of 3 April 1821 — the first of the Greek islands to do so — and from that moment the merchants of this small pine-forested place in the Saronic Gulf converted their trading ships into warships and entered a conflict that would last years and cost real lives. It was not an abstraction. Families on Spetses funded the war from gold they had hidden in wells. Ships and their crews did not all return. The fact that Spetses today is peaceful and beautiful, its harbor busy with horse-drawn carriages and the smell of sea pines, is in some measure the consequence of what was decided and sacrificed here two centuries ago.

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Image: Qweasdqwe | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/sw87-spetses-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Spetses: Laskarina Bouboulina https://qualla.com/spetses/ Photo credit Jean Housen, CC BY 3.0. Laskarina Bouboulina was born in a prison — her father died while her mother was held by Ottoman authorities — and she became one of the most consequential figures of the Greek War of Independence. A widow twice over, she used her inherited wealth to fund and arm a fleet of warsh...

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Image: Jean Housen | CC BY 3.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/sw87-spetses-laskarina-bouboulina.mp3 0:06 2 full Spetses: The Battle of Spetses, September 1822 https://qualla.com/spetses/ Photo credit George E. Koronaios, CC0. On 8 September 1822, the Ottoman fleet moved up from Monemvasia toward Nafplion, which had been under Greek siege since spring 1821. The Ottoman ships needed to resupply the besieged Ottoman garrison. They encountered the combined fleets of Spetses, Hydra, and Psara in the waters...

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Image: George E. Koronaios | CC0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/sw87-spetses-the-battle-of-spetses-september-1822.mp3 0:06 3 full Spetses: An Island Without Cars https://qualla.com/spetses/ Photo credit dronepicr, CC BY 2.0. Private automobiles are not permitted within the town limits of Spetses. The result is an island that moves at a different pace: horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, mopeds, the sound of footsteps on cobblestone. Ferries and high-speed hydrofoils from the Athenian port of Piraeus bri...

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Image: dronepicr | CC BY 2.0

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/sw87-spetses-an-island-without-cars.mp3 0:06 4 full Spetses: Pines, Pityussa, and the Literary Imagination https://qualla.com/spetses/ Photo credit Pitichinaccio, Public domain. The ancient Greeks called this island Pityussa — the pine-covered one. The name fits. In the early 21st century, Spetses is among the most wooded islands in the southern Aegean, and the pine forests give it a fragrance and a shade unusual among the rocky Saronic islands. The isla...

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Image: Pitichinaccio | Public domain

]]> Sun, 14 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/w/8/7/spetses-wp/sw87-spetses-pines-pityussa-and-the-literary-imagination.mp3 0:06 5 full