Turkish–Venetian wars
Part of Ottoman–Habsburg wars, Spanish–Ottoman wars and Ottoman wars in Europe
The Battle of Lepanto in a painting by Paolo Veronese , Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice
Date 25 September 1396 – 21 July 1718 (321 years, 9 months, 26 days) Location Eastern Mediterranean, Balkans, Greece and Anatolia Territorial changes Thessalonica, Morea, Negroponte, Albania, Modon, Durrës, Koroni, Cyclades, Cyprus, Crete captured by Ottomans Gelibolu, Cephalonia, Ithaca, Knin, Novigrad, Dalmatia, Vrlika, Strmica and Imotski captured by Italians
Belligerents
Republic of Venice Holy League : Spanish Empire[1][2] Holy Roman Empire Habsburg monarchy Portuguese Empire Papal States Kingdom of Naples Kingdom of Hungary Austrian Empire Republic of Genoa Knights of Malta	Ottoman Empire Kingdom of France[3] Regency of Algiers Ottoman Tripolitania Ottoman Egypt Beylik of Tunis Moravian Serbia[4]
Commanders and leaders
Doges of Venice : Antonio Venier Tommaso Mocenigo Cristoforo Moro Nicolò Tron Pietro Mocenigo Andrea Vendramin Giovanni Mocenigo Agostino Barbarigo Leonardo Loredan Pietro Lando Alvise I Mocenigo Francesco Erizzo Silvestro Valier Carlo Ruzzini	Ottoman Sultans : Sultan Bayezid I Sultan Mehmed I Sultan Murad II Mehmed the Conqueror Sultan Bayezid II Suleiman the Magnificent Sultan Selim II Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Mehmed IV Sultan Suleiman II Sultan Ahmed II Prince Mustafa II Sultan Ahmed III Prince Mahmud I

The Turkish–Venetian Wars^[5] were a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Venice in the 14th and 18th centuries for control of the eastern Mediterranean.

Since the 13th century, the Serenissima had controlled a vast maritime empire in the Levantine Mediterranean, the Stato da Mar, established partly at the expense of the possessions of the Byzantine Empire.^[6] In the second half of the 14th century, the expansion of the Ottoman Turks had been essentially land-based, and although the new eastern power posed a threat to Byzantine coastal emporiums and inland trade routes, the lack of Turkish naval power did not represent a direct threat to Venetian possessions. From the beginning of the 15th century, however, the Turks had begun to equip themselves with their own navy, drawing on the capabilities of the Greeks in the conquered regions, leading to the first clashes with Venetian fleets, such as the great battle fought off Gallipoli in the Dardanelles, which ended with the destruction of the Ottoman fleet.^[7]

In 1423, Venice took possession of the great city of Thessalonica (Thessalonica), the second largest in the Empire, which had already been under siege by the Turks for a year. The city had been sold to Venice by the despot Andronicus Palaiologos, in the hope that Venice would be able to preserve it from Muslim conquest. The Venetians held the city until March 1430, when it was finally taken by the Ottomans.^[8]

The fall of Constantinople in 1453 had also demonstrated for the first time the true naval, as well as land, power of the Ottoman Empire, which had replaced the Byzantine Empire in the territories. Venice, although allied with the dying Eastern Roman Empire until the end, after the fall of the ancient imperial capital was quick to show its compliance with the new masters of the Eastern routes. On 18 April 1454, the ambassador Bartolomeo Marcello signed a treaty of mutual recognition with Sultan Mehmet II.^[9]

Despite the facade, however, it was a fragile truce from the beginning, constantly threatened by minor violations that could, at any moment, be exploited by the Turks to spark a conflict.^[10] Venice itself, for its part, openly declared through its representatives at a council held in Mantua in 1460 that the agreement had been established out of necessity to defend its interests in the East, but that, if a Christian league were formed against the Great Turk, Venice would be willing to participate.^[11]

The first conflict between Venice and the new Ottoman Empire lasted sixteen years between 1463 and 1479.^[12] Begun with the capture of Argos by the Turks, it ended, after various vicissitudes, with the loss for the Serenissima of the colony of Negroponte^[13], part of the Cyclades, Lemnos and Venetian Albania.^[14] The losses were, however, compensated by the acquisition of the Kingdom of Cyprus, ceded to Venice by Queen Caterina Corner.^[15]

The war of 1499–1503 led to the Turkish conquest of numerous strongholds in the Aegean and the Peloponnes.^[12][16]

The conflict, fought between 1537 and 1540, led to the Ottoman conquest of the final part of the Peloponnese. A Holy League was formed in 1538 to counter the advance of the Ottoman Empire, which, allied with Francis I's France, wanted to divide Europe among itself.^[17]

Despite successful resistance during the Ottoman siege of Corfu, the Holy League led at sea by the Genoese admiral Andrea Doria lost the Battle of Preveza against Hayreddin Barbarossa. The Republic of Venice was forced to sign the surrender, also losing the Cyclades islands with the exception of Tinos and the Sporades islands.^[18]

The war, started in 1570 by Selim II with the invasion of the Kingdom of Cyprus, a Venetian colony, pushed in the West to the creation of a Holy League against the Turks between Venice, the Papacy, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Spain, with its dependencies.^[17]

From the fall of Nicosia to the long siege of Famagusta, which ended on 1 August 1571, and followed by the brutal massacre of the city's defenders and the commander Marcantonio Bragadin, followed the Battle of Lepanto, in which the Ottoman fleet was almost completely destroyed.^[18]

The failed attempt to conquer Navarino in 1572, the loss of vigour on the part of the League after the victory, due to the disinterest of Philip II of Spain, fearful of giving Venice an excessive advantage, led to a halt in naval operations, which failed to recover Cyprus, nor to cause further damage to the Ottoman Empire, whose fleet was quickly rebuilt. The peace signed in March 1573 confirmed the loss of Cyprus for Venice, but equally left the mark of the vanished Ottoman invincibility at sea.^[19]

The long conflict, fought between 1645 and 1669, centered on the interminable siege of Candia, which lasted 25 years, a city strenuously defended by the Serenissima as the capital of its most vital colony. The Republic of Venice repeatedly attacked the Turks with the Venetian Dardanelles Expedition, entrusted in succession to the admirals Leonardo Mocenigo, Lazzaro Mocenigo, Lorenzo Marcello, and Lorenzo Renier. The much superior Ottoman fleet was subdued several times, and the Venetians were able to plunder the Turkish coasts several times.^[17] After three years of blockading the Dardanelles Straits, the Venetians were forced to retreat in the face of an enemy capable of losing two entire fleets without stopping. The Turks were then able to resume the siege of the city of Candia. On September 5, 1669, after 20 years of siege, Candia signed its surrender, obtaining the honors of war.^[20]

The conflict of 1684-1699, the only one declared by Venice to the Sublime Porte, led to the Venetian conquest of the Morea (Peloponnese). It was during this war that the Parthenon in Athens was mistakenly destroyed by the Venetians, as the Ottomans used it as a depot for cannon ammunition. Francesco Morosini, nicknamed the Peloponnesian because of his cunning in attacking the Ottomans in the Aegean Sea, was appointed Captain General of the Sea. The Venetians managed to take Patras, the castles of Morea and Rumelia, the fortress of Lepanto, Corinth and the entire Peloponnese.There was also an attempt to reconquer Crete but the Venetians had to be content with conquering the fortress of Gramvussa.^[21]

The last conflict between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire was fought between 1714 and 1718. The Turks, eager to regain the territories lost during the last war, declared war on the Serenissima. The Turks, with overwhelming numerical superiority, forced the Venetians to concentrate their defenses in the cities of Nafplio, Corinth, Monemvasia, Modone, Castel di Morea, and in the two fortresses of Chielafà and Zarnata. The defense did not prevent the Muslims from taking the Peloponnese, and furthermore the only two fortresses of the Venetian Republic remaining in Crete, Suda and Spinalonga, had to capitulate.^[17] Turks and the consolidation of Venetian rule in Dalmatia. When the Ottomans arrived in Corfu, they found the Venetian Armata Grossa waiting for them. The battle lasted 3 hours, with the Ottomans suffering the heaviest losses. Despite repeated assaults, the Turks were forced to retreat. On July 19, 1717, the Venetian fleet, supported by a mixed squadron of Portuguese, Maltese, and papal ships, launched the Battle of Matapan. Although victorious, the Venetians were unable to reclaim the Morea (Peloponnese). The Peace of Passarowitz ended hostilities. The Serenissima had to content itself with the reacquisition of Cerigo with the annexed rock of Cerigotto, the annexation of Butrint, Preveza, Vonizza in Albania, and the conquered castles in Dalmatia of Imoski, Tischowatz, Sternizza, Cinista, Rolok, and Creano, along with four miles of surrounding territory for each of them.^[17]

• "Venetian-Turkish wars | 15th century | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2025-09-08. Retrieved 2026-01-05.