On 20 October 1827, the Battle of Navarino took place off the western coast of Messenia, marking one of the most significant military events in 19th-century history. In the Gulf of Pylos (known as Navarino in Venetian times), the combined naval forces of England, France, and Russia successfully defeated the Turkish-Egyptian fleet, destroying it completely.
A few weeks later, news of the naval battle and the victorious outcome spread throughout Europe and America, causing a worldwide sensation. The enthusiasm for the victory was so great that islands, capes, and even cities in various parts of the world—thousands of kilometers away from Messenia—were named Navarino.
Navarino Island in Patagonia
Sign in Puerto Navarino, Chile (Source: Google Maps)
However strange it may seem, a small island in Patagonia, South America, is called Isla Navarino. The island belongs to Chile and is located between Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn, across from Antarctica. Isla Navarino was named in 1828 by two officers of a British exploratory expedition that was conducting hydrographic surveys in the area at that time. Philip Parker King and Robert Fitzroy were aboard the ship, gazing at the island—which was unknown to them—when they received news of the victory at the Battle of Navarino. They were so delighted by the news that they decided to name it Navarino even before they had charted its coastline.
Cape Navarino in Siberia
Cape Navarin in Eastern Siberia (Source: chukotka.travel)
Cape Navarino is located in northeastern Asia, belongs to the Russian Chukotka region, and is bordered by the Bering Sea. The cape was discovered and mapped in 1828 by the crew of the ship Senyavin. Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke decided to name it Navarin in honor of the Russian fleet’s victory in the naval battle that had taken place a year earlier. The cape is 600 meters high and is considered the windiest place in Russia. The average annual temperature is -4 °C, and the area experiences heavy rainfall and dense fog.
The Town of Navarino in the United States
In the state of Wisconsin in the U.S., there is a small town called Navarino. This town has about 200 residents and is located in Sauno County. The town’s original name was Mayville, but on 1 December 1874, it was renamed Navarino in honor of the naval battle that took place in the bay of the same name.
Giorgos Giannikos
Sources:
Information was drawn from the book "The Battle of Navarino – The Antonis Tantoulou Collection" (Peloponnese Region, 2021), the website chukotka.travel, and Wikipedia.
The photographs are from Google Maps and chukotka.travel.
The text is a republication of an article originally published in the newspaper “Eleftheria Kalamatas” (Issue 13652, October 19, 2023).
