Psara - Destruction of Psara

Destruction of Psara

Psara joined the Greek War of Independence on April 10, 1821. A noted native naval leader of the time was future Prime Minister of Greece Constantine Kanaris. The island was invaded on June 21, 1824 by the Ottoman navy.

On July 4 the resistance of the Psariots ended with a last stand at the town's old fort of Palaiokastro. Hundreds of soldiers and also women and children had taken refuge there when a Turkish force of 2000 stormed the fort. The refugees first threw a white flag with the words "Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος" ("Eleftheria i Thanatos", "Freedom or Death". Then, the moment the Turks entered the fort, the local Antonios Vratsanos lit a fuse to the gunpowder stock, in an explosion that killed the towners along with the their enemies — thus remaining faithful to their flag to their death. A French officer who heard and saw the explosion compared it to a volcanic eruption of Vesuvius.

A part of the population managed to flee the island, but those who didn't were either sold into slavery or killed. As a result of the invasion, thousands of Greeks have met a tragic fate. The island was deserted and surviving islanders were scattered through what is now Southern Greece. Theophilos Kairis, a priest and scholar, took on many of the orphaned children and developed the famous school the Orphanotropheio of Theophilos Kairis.

The tragic event of the destruction of Psara inspired the poet Dionysios Solomos — the author of the Hymn to Liberty — to write a poem about it called "The Destruction of Psara".