Monument to the Fallen Russian Sailors

The Monument to the Fallen Russian Sailors is located on the small island Sfaktiria, near Pilos, in Messinia. It was placed there in 1872, during the 45th anniversary of the battle of Navarino and it was funded by the Russian Navy.

The Monument to the Fallen Russian Sailors is dedicated to the 59 Russian sailors that lost their life and to the 141 that were wounded at the battle.

In the center of the Monument to the Fallen Russian Sailors, on the altar, there is a marble plaque with the inscription: “In memory of the lost at the Battle of Navarino on 8 (20) in October 1827 that were buried near this location”. Around the plate there are still the cypresses that were planted in 1889 by the Russian sailors who paid tribute to their compatriots.

Even today, crews of Russian warships that travel to Greece visit the monument and equally pay tribute to the fallen sailors in order to honor and remember them.

Near the Monument to the Fallen Russian Sailors there is the church of the Resurrection of the Lord, where liturgies are held in honor of the fallen sailors. In 1960 near the marble slab, a column was placed, which presents the anchor and the emblem of the Soviet Union. The inscription on the column that was placed says “… in honor of the Russian sailors that lost heroically their life at the Battle of Navarino”.