During
the 19th century the preparation for the liberation war of the
Nation from the Ottoman empire is intense.At that time groups
of men with few or primitive arms formed the so called "armatoloi"
and "kleftes".The prominent ones in Roumeli were Katsantonis,
Androutsos, Karaiskakis, Blahavas and Tsekouras,two brothers from
Galaxidi.Galaxidi declared a non-stop war for the liberation of
the nation in the sea and in the land.
During the period of the secret movement of Filiki Society, the
marines from Galaxidi were in constant contact through the  Patriarch
Gregorios the 5th with the Archibishop of Salona Essaias who was
a member of the Filiki Society. Because of the freedom to travel
in the seas of Ionian and Aegean and in Efxinos and the Mediterranean
the city of Galaxidi became quite rich, and civilized with autonomous
government and privileged taxation.It had a harbour and 40 big
ships, a lot of smaller ones and land force.
The privileged situation of Galaxidi was mainly because of:
The nautical growth of the city and the special nautical abilities
of its people who came in contact with all the known world.
The special attachment and favor of the first Soultana (Valide
Hanoum) to whom the captains of Galaxidi were offering gifts in
every passage from Constantinopole.
The friendship and protection of Ali Pasha of Ioannina who had
in his court a lot of captains from Galaxidi.
The reasons which influenced the people of Galaxidi to contribute
to the liberation war of 1821 were national,moral and psychological.
They first joined forces with people from other cities of Roumeli
in Messologgi and later in Hydra.On March 26, 1821 they declared
the start of the war (about 1400 men) with Ioannis Metropoulos
as their leader in the location of the present church of Saint
John Prodromos. In the neighboring city of Saint Efthymia they
joined forces with Panourgias and his men and moved to Salona
in order to liberate its castle. Among them was Ioannis Karalivanos
and on the 10th of April 1821 the castle was conquered by this
group of fighters from Galaxidi as well as the whole historic
city of Salona. It was the first turkish fort which fell in the
hands of Greeks.
 They
moved on to Alamana and Gravia having the Archibishop Essaias
with them. On the bridge of Alamana the legendary hero Athanassios
Diakos was caught by the Turks and later on brutally killed.The
remaining 117 people were locked in the Hani of Gravia with Odysseus
Androutsos. Among them, 52 were from Galaxidi according to the
historian Sathas.Everybody fought with pride until the end.
The people of Galaxidi went on to Nafpaktos which they surrounded.
But personal interests and passions among the rulers caused the
murder of Ioannis Metropoulos at the age of 41 in his sleep.His
death not only created a lot of sorrow among his followers, but
also was the cause of their leaving the city of Nafpaktos. The
Turks then took advantage and burned the city and all the ships.
Galaxidi as a marine center had also started the war in the sea.In
their ships, captains from Galaxidi raised the local liberation
flag in black and white showing the eagle (Greek nation) attacking
the dragon (Ottoman empire). With all their fleet they left the
harbour with destination to Nafpaktos and Patra to cut off the
connectivity of Turks from Roumeli and Peloponnese.
The contribution of Galaxidi from land and sea during the liberation
war was the cause of the decline of the city which sacrificed
itself during that holy war of the nation.
The cultural contributon of Galaxidi was big as well. Among the
three big newspapers in Roumeli was that of Galaxidi.The other
two were the Aitoliki of Messologgi and Acheloos of Agrinio.
The people of Galaxidi continued their fight by organizing a small
fleet before the fleets of Hydra and Spetses come to existence.The
leader was Constantin Dedousis. Later on the joined fleets of
Hydra, Galaxidi and Spetses surrounded from the sea the city of
Nafpaktos and prevented the contact of the Turks from the sea.
The ships of Hydra and Spetses at some point left and the fleet
of Galaxidi remained to continue with Agamemnon, the ship of Bouboulina,
which left as well after a while for Spetses. The Turks then decided
that it was time to get rid of Galaxidi since it was a major threat
in the area of Corinthia-Nafpaktos-Patra. The Turk-egyptian fleet
with the Egyptian Ismael Gibraltar as their leader left the harbour
of Patra and went to Galaxidi on September 22, 1821.  Most
of the ships of Galaxidi were out in the seas offering their services
to the liberation war.Galaxidi had been left without defence with
only few men who fought heroically until the end.The city which
had cultivated and taught the highest virtues of honesty,dignity
with its heritage and riches was burned and destroyed in one day.
However,after a few months of its destruction Galaxidi managed
to rebuild its shipyards and made its comeback as fighters in
the Corinthian sea against the Turks.
In the land now,organized troops of Kioutachis came on to Messologgi
destroying everything which came in their way.They passed by Galaxidi
and Salona. Again Imbraem left Patra and came to the sea of Galaxidi.This
time the inhabitants had time to leave the city and Imbraem only
captured 30 small ships.
The third time the scheme of the Turks succeded and Galaxidi was
completely destroyed.
Many historians (mainly from Peloponnese) hid the historical facts
about Galaxidi and presented only those about Peloponnese. In
the national archives there are two documents from Galaxidi which
describe the action of the historic city of Galaxidi. After the
liberation of the new Greek state, a commitee of nautical people
was formed with Andreas Miaoulis as president.This commitee decided
to honor the marine warriors of 1821. Among them were 11 from
Galaxidi.
In
1860, Galaxidi managed to have its shipyards in operation again
and, at the same time, they formed 3 nautical insurance companies
with founders and members responsible to pay in case of a ship
damage of another member depending on the proportion of contribution
which was based on the ship's value.
It
was an ideal insurance which even astonished the greater at the
time insurance company:LLoyd's.
In
1892 the growth reaches its height with 550 ships sailing in the
seas and continuing Galaxidi's nautical presence. Those 550 ships
were mainly owned by the families of Levantis, Kammenos, Petradzas,
Chardavellas, Metropoulos and Vlamis.
However
during the last decade of the 19th century the Galaxidi fleet
starts falling behind. Steam replaces sails but the Galaxidi fleet
does not follow.
Galaxidi
is considered the second nautical center after Syros.It had a
school of captains which was in operation before those of Hydra
and Aspropyrgos.
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