mary stubberfield

Welcome to the Spetses page! Spetses is one of the Saronic Islands, just off the Peloponnese. An important time in the history of Spetses was during the war of Independence against the Turks, which began in 1821. A Greek heroine called Laskarina Bouboulina was from the island of Hydra and later moved to Spetses. Bouboulina grew up with a love of the sea, marrying two sea captains who both died, leaving her a lot of money. She used this money to buy several ships, including the Agamemnon, the largest warship in the 1821 revolution against the Turks. Twelve days before the official beginning of the War of Independence, the first revolutionary flag was raised on the island of Spetses by Laskarina Bouboulina. On April 3rd Spetses revolted. Bouboulina and her fleet of 8 ships sailed to Nafplion and took part in the siege of the impregnable fortress there. Her later attack on Monemvasia managed to capture that fortress. She took part in the blockade of Pylos and brought supplies to the revolutionaries. Following the war she lived in Nafplion, until the Greeks broke into factions and began to fight each other. She was arrested twice and finally expelled back to Spetses. Bouboulina died on 22nd May 1825, shot in a dispute with the Koutsis family after her son had eloped with one of their daughters. Bouboulina became a national hero, as one of the first women to play a major role in the revolution. Without her the Greeks might not have gained their independence.