The Cannon Blog

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Bronze Mortars in Nafplio, Greece

Bronze Mortars on Kolokotronis Square in Nafplio, Greece

The statue of Theodoros Kolokotronis, an imprtant figure in the Greek struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire, is adorned with four bronze mortars, original artifacts from this very struggle, which dragged on over centuries.

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

Like in other places on the Greek coastline, Nafplio was a port controlled by the Venetians in the 17th century. They fortified the harbour and built a massive fort on the hill above town. Three of the mortars are from this period. 

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

The craftsmanship of these pieces is impressive. Towards the muzzle sits the Venetian winged lion. Left and right in the same section are lion heads in high relief. The middle seaction features an unusually prominent maker’s mark. The last section of the wide part of the barrel has the production year, 1670. The powder chamber has an inventory number, 32. The touch hole is again decorated with a lion face.

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

Interestingly, the orientation of the lion face on the touch hole is upside down from the other decorations. 

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

Another mortar from same series. It is identical, execpt for something that may be an additional inventory mark next to the inventory number 33.

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

Close-up of the powder chamber of number 33. The exact meaning of the symbol next to the 33 is unknown to me.

This mortar is from the other side of the frontline – a somewhat more somber design from the Ottoman arsenal.

Osman Bronze Mortar

This piece has no maker’s mark, at least not anymore. The seal on the middle section is the Tughra of Abdülhamid II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1876 to 1909. That would be quite late to cast a cannon like this. Possibly this mortar was captured by the Ottomans and rebranded. 

The rear section features inventory number 31.

Bronze Mortar cast by Fransesco Mazzaroli 1670.

This is again a piece by the Mazzaroli workshop, but from 1696, 26 years younger than the first two. It is much reduced in its decorations. The similariy with the Abdülhamid II mortar is striking.

Bronze Mortar cast by Mazzaroli 1670.

Unlike the first three mortars, this one does not have an invortory number in the 30s – it is instead 2260, and very much scribbled compared to the others.

Bronze Mortar cast by Mazzaroli 1696.

Still a winged lion, just a little smaller.

Comparing this maker’s mark with the ones from 1670, one cannot help but notice a slight decline. Im 1715, the Ottomans captured the Nafplio Fortress. In 1822, the Greek captured it back.

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A bronze cannon converted to swivel gun

We often get enquiries where people want to sell something or are looking for a evaluation. Usually we cannot help with this, because we do not buy and we are no antiques experts. But with this item here I wanted to make an exception: A bronze cannon barrel with a length of 170cm, diameter at the muzzle 17cm. I. e. dimensions similar to a Lantaka, but without the oriental ornaments. On top is a stylized coat of arms, which indicates a work for export. But the really unusual with this piece is an iron swivel and a rear attachment of iron to handle it as a sviwel gun. This appears to have been retro-fitted. Corrosion on the iron parts is substantial, as would be typical for about 100 years in sea water. The cannon was salvaged in the Mediterranean ca. 70 years ago and has since been the property of the current owner’s family.

I am posting this here without commercial interest. If you are interested in purchasing this cannon, I can pass your contact to the owner.

Photos are under copyright of the cannon owner.

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Port fort Heraklion

The seaside fort Enetiko Frourio Koules at the entrance to the old harbour of Crete’s capital Heraklion has a rich history. It was at the center of several epic struggles for sovereignty of the island, most notably the Ottoman siege that lasted 21 years from 1648 until 1669 – probably the longest in history. It ended with Ottoman victory after the flagship of a French-led relief fleet, the La Thérèse, sank when her powder magazine exploded.
Salvaged cannon from the La Thérèse are today the highlight of the little museum in the fort, in particular three masterly crafted bronze cannon.

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Frederiksværk

Cannon on Frederiksværk town square

The small town of Fredericksværk in northern Sjælland, Denmark, was home to a substantial cannon foundry during the age of front-loading cannon. Between 1756 and 1833, an estimated 2.500 cannon were cast for the Danish military, but also for export.

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Derelict cannon at the Fortezza of Rethymno

Main gate of the Fortezza

The fortress towering over the little Cretan town of Rethymno is a strange place. Built by the Venetians at the end of the 16th century to protect the town and its inhabitants from Ottoman invaders, it proved ineffective for this purpose in 1646, when it was taken after a short siege. The Ottomans demolished the church and built a mosque in its place.

Continue reading “Derelict cannon at the Fortezza of Rethymno”

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Noon signal in Valletta

In relation to size, Malta is probably the most fortified land in the world. The armed conflicts this tiny nation was in involved in are epic and so it is fitting that the harbour of the capital Valletta is flanked with two huge forts. On the north side there is a battery of British 19th century front-loading guns, one of which is fired every day at high noon. Even though the country gained political independence from the United Kingdom in 1964, the action here is carried out by reenactors posing as British colonial soldiers.

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