Siege of Coron (1685)
1685 CE.
Shown on the map at 36.795°, 21.963°.
The conquest of Coron of 1685 was the capture of the Ottoman fortress of Coron (Koroni) in the southwestern Morea (Peloponnese) by the Republic of Venice in 1685. It signalled the start of the Venetian conquest of the Morea during the Great Turkish War. Along with neighbouring Modon (Methoni), Coron had been strategically important Venetian bases until captured by the Ottomans in 1500. When Venice declared war on the Ottomans in 1684, the Venetian commander-in-chief, Francesco Morosini, quickly set his sights on a conquest of the Morea as a revenge and recompense for the recent loss of Crete. In this he hoped to have the assistance of the Maniots, a semi-autonomous and restive population that resisted Ottoman authority. However, the Ottomans pre-empted the Venetians by invading the Mani Peninsula and garrisoning its fortresses. Rather than land at Mani, therefore, Morosini chose to target Coron, securing for himself a base of operations and encouraging the Maniots to rise up by a display of military might. The Venetian forces began the siege on 25 June by digging trenches to isolate the citadel of Coron from the landward side, and began a bombardment from both land and sea.
Text from the Wikipedia article Conquest of Coron (1685), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.