Santi Martiri Otranto by Andrea Rollo
23 images Created 29 Jan 2014
Processione Santi Martiri, Otranto © Andrea Rollo .
On July 28, 1480 a naval fleet of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire from Vlora , strong 90 galleys , 40 galleons and other ships for a total of about 150 ships and 18,000 soldiers , appeared under the walls of Otranto. The city strenuously resisted the attacks , but its population of only 6,000 inhabitants could not long resist the bombing. In fact, on 29 July the garrison and all the inhabitants abandoned the town in the hands of the Turks , retiring in the citadel while the latter also began their raids in the farmhouses nearby . When Gedik Ahmet Pasha asked the defenders to surrender , they refused and in response the Turkish artillery shelling resumed . On August 11 , after 15 days of siege , Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered the final attack during which he managed to break through the defenses and conquer the castle . In the massacre that ensued , all the males of over fifteen years, were killed, while women and children were enslaved. According to some historical reconstructions , the dead were a total of 12,000 and 5,000 enslaved , including also the victims of the territories of the Salento peninsula around the city. The survivors and the clergy had taken refuge in the cathedral to pray with Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli . Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered them to renounce their Christian faith , but by receiving a flat refusal , broke with his men in the cathedral and captured them . They were then all killed , while the church as a sign of defiance , was reduced to stables for the horses . Was particularly barbaric killing of the elderly Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli , which urged the survivors to turn to God at death . Indeed, it was slashed and hacked to pieces with their scimitars , while his severed head was impaled on a pike and carried through the streets of the city. The garrison commander Francis Largo instead was sawn alive. At the head of that Otrantini - August 12 were opposed to conversion to Islam - was also the old tailor Pezzulla Antonio , told The Primaldo . On August 14, Gedik Ahmet Pasha did tie the survivors and made them drag on the nearby hill of Minerva , where he beheaded at least 800 , forcing the family to attend executions. The first to be beheaded was Antonio Primaldo . The tradition tells that his body , after being decapitated , he remained on his feet , despite the efforts of the executioners to bring it down , since when the last of the Otrantini was not martyred . During the massacre the chronicles tell that a turkish , this Bersabei , converted to see the way in which the Otrantini died for their faith and he suffered martyrdom, impaled by his own comrades in arms. Among the 813 Martyrs of Otranto, is remembered for his heroic death in witness to the faith , the figure of Macario Nachira caught monaco Basilian belonged to an ancient and noble family of Viggiano ( Uggiano the Church today ) . After thirteen months Otranto was retaken by the ...
On July 28, 1480 a naval fleet of the Turkish Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire from Vlora , strong 90 galleys , 40 galleons and other ships for a total of about 150 ships and 18,000 soldiers , appeared under the walls of Otranto. The city strenuously resisted the attacks , but its population of only 6,000 inhabitants could not long resist the bombing. In fact, on 29 July the garrison and all the inhabitants abandoned the town in the hands of the Turks , retiring in the citadel while the latter also began their raids in the farmhouses nearby . When Gedik Ahmet Pasha asked the defenders to surrender , they refused and in response the Turkish artillery shelling resumed . On August 11 , after 15 days of siege , Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered the final attack during which he managed to break through the defenses and conquer the castle . In the massacre that ensued , all the males of over fifteen years, were killed, while women and children were enslaved. According to some historical reconstructions , the dead were a total of 12,000 and 5,000 enslaved , including also the victims of the territories of the Salento peninsula around the city. The survivors and the clergy had taken refuge in the cathedral to pray with Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli . Gedik Ahmet Pasha ordered them to renounce their Christian faith , but by receiving a flat refusal , broke with his men in the cathedral and captured them . They were then all killed , while the church as a sign of defiance , was reduced to stables for the horses . Was particularly barbaric killing of the elderly Archbishop Stephen Pendinelli , which urged the survivors to turn to God at death . Indeed, it was slashed and hacked to pieces with their scimitars , while his severed head was impaled on a pike and carried through the streets of the city. The garrison commander Francis Largo instead was sawn alive. At the head of that Otrantini - August 12 were opposed to conversion to Islam - was also the old tailor Pezzulla Antonio , told The Primaldo . On August 14, Gedik Ahmet Pasha did tie the survivors and made them drag on the nearby hill of Minerva , where he beheaded at least 800 , forcing the family to attend executions. The first to be beheaded was Antonio Primaldo . The tradition tells that his body , after being decapitated , he remained on his feet , despite the efforts of the executioners to bring it down , since when the last of the Otrantini was not martyred . During the massacre the chronicles tell that a turkish , this Bersabei , converted to see the way in which the Otrantini died for their faith and he suffered martyrdom, impaled by his own comrades in arms. Among the 813 Martyrs of Otranto, is remembered for his heroic death in witness to the faith , the figure of Macario Nachira caught monaco Basilian belonged to an ancient and noble family of Viggiano ( Uggiano the Church today ) . After thirteen months Otranto was retaken by the ...
