Editing Pylos (section)

==History==
===Neolithic Pylos===
The region of Pylos has a long history, which goes hand in hand with that of Peloponnese. It starts in the depths of prehistory, as the region has been inhabited since the [[Neolithic Greece|Neolithic]], when populations from [[Anatolia]] began to spread in the Balkans and Greece around 6500 BC, bringing with them the practice of agriculture and farming. Excavations have demonstrated a continuous human presence from the Late Neolithic period (5300 BC) on several sites of [[Pylia]], in particular in those of [[Voidokilia beach|''Voidokilia'']] and of ''Nestor's'' ''cave'', where numerous [[Ostracon|ostraca]] or fragments of painted, black and polished ceramics have been found, as well as later engraved and written pottery.<ref>George S. Korres, [[Adamantios Sampson]], Stella Katsarou (2010), ''Nestor's Cave in Voïdokiliá, Pylos. Research and preliminary examination of ancient and recent discoveries'', Proceedings of the fourth local conference of Messenian Studies. (Γεώργιος Στυλ. Κορρές, Αδαμάντιος Σαμψών, Στέλλα Κασταρού, 2010, ''Το Σπήλαιο Νέστορος στην Βοϊοδοκοιλιά Πύλου. Η ερευνά του και η προκαταρτική εξέταση των παλαιοτέρων και νεωτέρων ευρημάτων''. Πρακτικά  Δ΄ Τοπικού Συνεδρίου Μεσσηνιακών Σπουδών)</ref> The Neolithic period ended with the appearance of [[Bronze|bronze metallurgy]] around 3000 BC.

=== Mycenaean Pylos ===
{{main|Palace of Nestor|Pylos Combat Agate}}[[File:Nestor's Palace panorama.jpg|thumb|550x550px|Nestor's Palace|alt=|center]]
During the [[Bronze Age]] (3000–1000 BC), the [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean civilization]] developed, particularly in Peloponnese. Pylos then became the capital of one of the most important human centers of this civilization and of a powerful kingdom, often referred to as [[Nestor (mythology)|Nestor]]'s kingdom of "sandy Pylos" (''ἠμαθόεις'') and described later by [[Homer]] in both his ''[[Iliad]]'' and his ''[[Odyssey]]'' (Book 17) when [[Telemachus]] says:

{{blockquote|we went to Pylos and to Nestor, the shepherd of the people, and he received me in his lofty house and gave me kindly welcome, as a father might his own son who after a long time had newly come from afar: even so kindly he tended me with his glorious sons.<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' XVII 108–112</ref>}}
[[File:Two Mycenaean chariot warriors on a fresco from Pylos about 1350 BC.jpg|left|thumb|upright=1.3|Warriors on a chariot. Fresco in Nestor's palace (LHIIIA/B period, around 1350 BC)]]
The Mycenaean state of Pylos (1600–1200&nbsp;BC) covered an area of {{cvt|2000|km2}} and had a minimum population of 50,000 according to the [[Linear B]] tablets discovered there, or even perhaps as large as 80,000–120,000.<ref name=":10">[[Jack L. Davis]], ''Sandy Pylos: An Archaeological History from Nestor to Navarino'', University of Texas Press 1998; Greek Translation 2004; second edition 2007). With S.E. Alcock, J. Bennet, Y. Lolos, C. Shelmerdine, and E. Zangger.</ref><ref name="google">{{cite book |title=After Collapse: The Regeneration of Complex Societies |author1=Schwartz, G.M. |author2=Nichols, J.J. |date=2010 |publisher=University of Arizona Press |isbn=9780816529360 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_gsFrnn9RzQC |page=80 |access-date=2014-12-07}}</ref><ref name="google2">{{cite book |title=Seagoing Ships and Seamanship in the Bronze Age Levant |author1=Wachsmann, S. |author2=Bass, G.F. |date=2008 |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |isbn=9781603440806 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apna4pv7Ks8C |page=359 |access-date=2014-12-07}}</ref> It should not however be confused with the current city of Pylos. The urban center of ancient Pylos indeed remains only partially identified to date. The various archaeological remains of palaces and administrative or residential infrastructures that have been found in the region so far suggest to modern scholars that the ancient city would have developed over a much larger area, that of the [[Pylia Province]].<ref name=":10" /> The typical point of reference for the Mycenaean city remains the [[Palace of Nestor]], but many other palaces (such as those of [[Nichoria]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shelmerdine |first=Cynthia W. |date=1981 |title=Nichoria in Context: A Major Town in the Pylos Kingdom |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |volume=85 |issue=3 |pages=319–325 |doi=10.2307/504173 |jstor=504173 |s2cid=191376892}}</ref> and [[Iklaina]]<ref>The Iklaina Project. http://www.iklaina.org/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119213449/http://www.iklaina.org/ |date=2018-01-19 }}</ref>) or villages (such as Malthi<ref>Worsham, R., M. Lindblom & C. Zikidi (2018). ''Preliminary report of the Malthi Archaeological Project, 2015–2016'', Opuscula 11, 7–27.</ref>) of the Mycenaean era have been recently discovered, which were quickly subordinated to Pylos.<ref name=":10" /> Its [[port]] and its [[acropolis]] were probably established on the ''Koryphasion'' promontory (or ''Cape Coryphasium'') commanding the northern entrance to the bay, 4&nbsp;km north of the modern city and south of Nestor's palace, but no remains were found.[[File:Pulos.png|thumb|200px|Location of Ancient Pylos ("pu-ro")]]The Pylos site is located on the hill of Ano Englianos, about 9&nbsp;km northeast of the bay {{coord|37.028|21.695|display=inline|type:landmark}}, near the village of [[Chora, Messenia|Chora]] and about 17 kilometres from the modern city of Pylos. It hosts one of the most important Mycenaean palaces in Greece, known as the great "[[Palace of Nestor]]" described in the Homeric poems. This palace remains today the best preserved palace in Greece and one of the most important of all Mycenaean civilization. It was discovered and first excavated in 1939 by American archaeologist [[Carl Blegen]] (1887–1971) of the [[University of Cincinnati]] and the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]], and by [[Konstantinos Kourouniotis]] (1872–1945) of the Greek archaeological service. Their excavations were interrupted by the Second World War, and then resumed in 1952 under the direction of Blegen until 1966. He found many architectural elements such as the throne room with its foyer, an anteroom, rooms and passageways all covered with [[fresco]]es of Minoan inspiration, and also large warehouses, the external walls of the palace, unique baths, galleries, and 90 meters outside the palace, a [[Beehive tomb|beehive "tholos" tomb]], perfectly restored in 1957 (''Tholos tomb IV'').
[[File:Linear B tablet from Nestor's Palace.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.7|Clay tablet with its inscriptions in Linear B, discovered in Pylos (Archaeological Museum of Chora)]]
In addition to the archaeological remains of the palace, Blegen also found there thousands of clay tablets with inscriptions written in [[Linear B]], a [[Syllabary|syllabic script]] used between 1425 and 1200 BC for writing [[Mycenaean Greek]]. Pylos is the largest source in Greece of these tablets with 1,087 fragments found on the site of the Nestor's Palace. In 1952, when self-taught linguist [[Michael Ventris]] and [[John Chadwick]] deciphered the script, Mycenaean Greek turned out to be the earliest [[Attested language|attested]] form of [[Greek language|Greek]], some elements of which have survived in the language of Homer thanks to a long oral tradition of epic poetry.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cracking-the-code-the-decipherment-of-linear-b-60-years-on |title=Cracking the code: the decipherment of Linear B 60 years on |date=13 October 2012 |work=Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=9 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809162033/http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/cracking-the-code-the-decipherment-of-linear-b-60-years-on |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[[John Chadwick]] (1990) [1958]. ''The Decipherment of Linear B'' (2nd ed.). Cambridge UP. {{ISBN|978-0-521-39830-5|}}</ref> Thus, these clay tablets, generally used for administrative purposes or for recording economic transactions, clearly demonstrate that the site itself was already called "Pylos" by its Mycenaean inhabitants (''Pulos'' in Mycenaean Greek; attested in Linear B as [[File:Linear_B_Syllable_B050_PU.svg|30x30px]][[File:Linear_B_Syllable_B002_RO.svg|30x30px]] ''pu-ro,'' {{lang|gmy|𐀢𐀫}}).
[[File:Palace of Nestor throne base (1).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Foyer in the Throne room of the Palace of Nestor]]
In 2015, the team of American archaeologists [[Sharon Stocker]] and [[Jack L. Davis]] of the [[University of Cincinnati]] and under the aegis of the [[American School of Classical Studies at Athens]], discovered near the ''Tholos tomb IV'', a [[shaft tomb]] (non-tholos) dated to the [[Helladic chronology|Late Helladic IIA]] (LHIIA, 1600–1470 BC), of an individual of 30–35 years old and 1.70 m tall, the "Griffin warrior", named for the mythological creature, part eagle, part lion, engraved on an ivory plaque in his tomb.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Jack L. |last2=Stocker |first2=Sharon R. |date=October–December 2016 |title=The Lord of the Gold Rings: The Griffin Warrior of Pylos |jstor=10.2972/hesperia.85.4.0627 |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |volume=85 |issue=4 |pages=627–655 |doi=10.2972/hesperia.85.4.0627 |s2cid=164287861}}</ref> The tomb also contained armor, weapons, mirror and many pearl and gold jewels, including several gold signet rings of exceptional craftsmanship and thoroughness. Researchers believe it could be the grave of a [[Anax|Wanax]], a tribal king, lord or military leader during the Mycenaean era.<ref>[https://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/warrior_tomb.html UC team discovers rare warrior tomb filled with bronze age wealth and weapons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200616172130/https://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/warrior_tomb.html |date=2020-06-16 }}, magazine.uc.edu</ref><ref>Nicholas Wade, [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/a-warriors-grave-at-pylos-greece-could-be-a-gateway-to-civilizations.html Grave of 'Griffin Warrior' at Pylos Could Be a Gateway to Civilizations] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506162537/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/science/a-warriors-grave-at-pylos-greece-could-be-a-gateway-to-civilizations.html |date=2020-05-06 }}, nytimes.com, 26 octobre 2015</ref> It was also in this tomb that was found the [[Pylos Combat Agate]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stocker |first1=Sharon R. |last2=Davis |first2=Jack L. |date=October–December 2017 |title=The Combat Agate from the Grave of the Griffin Warrior at Pylos |jstor=10.2972/hesperia.86.4.0583 |journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=583–605 |doi=10.2972/hesperia.86.4.0583 |s2cid=165510271 |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/819910}}</ref> a seal made of [[agate]] dated from around 1450 BCE, which represents a warrior engaged in a hand-to-hand combat.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |title=Unearthing a masterpiece |url=http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearthingamasterpiece.html |website=University of Cincinnati |language=en-US |access-date=2017-11-07 |archive-date=2017-11-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109134614/http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearthingamasterpiece.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":12">{{cite web |title=Ancient Greek 'Masterpiece' Revealed on Thumb-Size Gem |url=https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/greek-sealstone-gemstone-combat-griffin-warrior-tomb-spd/ |last=Gibbens |first=Sarah |website=National Geographic |date=7 November 2017 |access-date=7 November 2017 |archive-date=7 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107235705/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/11/greek-sealstone-gemstone-combat-griffin-warrior-tomb-spd/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2017, the same team discovered two other exceptional tholos tombs, ''Tholos tombs VI and VII''. Although their domes had collapsed, they discovered that they were littered with flakes of gold leaf that once papered the walls and found a multitude of cultural artifacts and delicate jewelry, including a gold pendant representing the head of the Egyptian goddess [[Hathor]], which showed for the first time that Pylos clearly had trade relations with Egypt and the Middle East around 1500 BCE.<ref name=":3">Rory Sullivan and Elinda Labropoulou, [https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/18/world/archaeologists-royal-tombs-greece-scli-intl-scn/index.html Archaeologists uncover treasure-filled 'princely' tombs in Greece] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428002832/https://edition.cnn.com/2019/12/18/world/archaeologists-royal-tombs-greece-scli-intl-scn/index.html |date=2020-04-28 }}, cnn.com, 18 December 2019.</ref><ref name=":6">[https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/12/archaeologists-find-bronze-age-tombs-lined-with-gold/124977 Archaeologists find Bronze Age tombs lined with gold] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001011207/https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/12/archaeologists-find-bronze-age-tombs-lined-with-gold/124977 |date=2020-10-01 }}, heritagedaily.com, 18 December 2019.</ref>

Pylos was the only palace of that time to have no walls or fortifications. It was destroyed by fire around 1180 BC and many clay tablets in linear B clearly bear the stigmata of the fire.<ref>Eric H. Cline (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4o8pAgAAQBAJ 1177 B.C. The Year Civilization Collapsed]''. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-40-084998-7|}}</ref><ref>Thomas F. Tartaron (2013). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=sZbqAAAAQBAJ Maritime Networks in the Mycenaean World]''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9781107067134|}}</ref> The Linear B archives found there, preserved by the heat of the fire that destroyed the palace, mention hasty defence preparations due to an imminent attack without giving any detail about the attacking force.<ref>Charles Freeman (2014). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=UtMVAwAAQBAJ Egypt, Greece and Rome: Civilizations of the Ancient Mediterranean]'' (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|9780199651924|}}</ref> The site of the Mycenaean Pylos then seems to have been abandoned during the [[Greek Dark Ages|Dark Ages]] (1100–800 BC). The region of Pylos, together with that of the [[Messene|ancient Messene]], was later enslaved by [[Sparta]].

The ruins of a crude stone fortress on nearby [[Sphacteria]], apparently of Mycenaean origin, were used by the [[Sparta]]ns during the [[Peloponnesian War]]. (Thucydides iv. 31)

===Classical Pylos===
{{Main|Peloponnesian War}}
It was one of the last places which held out against the Spartans in the [[Second Messenian War]], after which the inhabitants emigrated to [[Cyllene (Elis)|Cyllene]], and from there, with the other [[Messenians]], to [[Sicily]].<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|4|18|1}}, {{Cite Pausanias|4|23|1}}</ref> Its name is mentioned again in the seventh year of the Peloponnesian War. According to the Greek historian [[Thucydides]] in his ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'', the area was "together with most of the country round, unpopulated".<ref>{{Cite Thucydides|4.3}}</ref> The ancient city was not located at the modern Pylos, but north of the isle of [[Sphacteria]]. In 425&nbsp;BC the [[Classical Athens|Athenian]] politician [[Cleon]] sent an expedition to Pylos where the Athenians fortified the rocky promontory now known as Koryphasion (Κορυφάσιον) or [[Old Pylos castle|Old Pylos]] at the northern edge of the bay, near the [[Gialova Lagoon]], and after a conflict with Spartan ships in the [[Battle of Pylos]], seized and occupied the bay. [[Demosthenes]], the Athenian commander, completed the fort in 424&nbsp;BC.

The erection of this fort led to one of the most memorable events in the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides has given a minute account of the topography of the district, which, though clear and consistent with itself, does not coincide, in all points, with the existing locality, Thucydides describes the harbour, of which the promontory Coryphasium (''Koryphasion'') formed the northern termination, as fronted and protected by the island Sphacteria, which stretched along the coast, leaving only two narrow entrances to the harbour,--the one at the northern end, opposite to Coryphasium, being only wide enough to admit two triremes abreast, and the other at the southern end wide enough for eight or nine triremes. The island was about 15 stadia in width, covered with wood, uninhabited and untrodden.<ref>{{Cite Thucydides|4.8}}</ref> [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] also says that the island Sphacteria lies before the harbour of Pylos like Rheneia before the anchorage of Delos.<ref>{{Cite Pausanias|5|36|6}}</ref> A little later the Athenians captured a number of Spartan troops besieged on the adjacent island of Sphacteria (see [[Battle of Sphacteria]]). Spartan anxiety over the return of the prisoners, who were taken to Athens as hostages, contributed to their acceptance of the [[Peace of Nicias]] in 421&nbsp;BC.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:Pylos Paleokastro.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Old Navarino castle]]]]

Little is known of Pylos under [[Byzantine]] rule, except for a mention of raids by [[Cretan Saracens]] in the area c. 872/3.<ref name="EI2">{{EI2 |volume=7 |title=Navarino |first1=N. |last1=Bées |first2=A. |last2=Savvides |pages=1037–1039}}</ref> In the 12th century, the Muslim geographer [[al-Idrisi]] mentioned it as the "commodious port" of ''Irūda'' in his ''Nuzhat al-Mushtaq''.<ref name="EI2"/>

In 1204, following the [[Fourth Crusade]], the Peloponnese became the [[Principality of Achaea]], a [[Crusader state]]. Pylos fell quickly to the Crusaders according to a brief reference in the ''[[Chronicle of the Morea]]'', but it is not until the 1280s that it is mentioned again. According to the French and Greek versions of the ''Chronicle'', [[Nicholas II of Saint Omer]], the lord of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], who in c. 1281 received extensive lands in Messenia in exchange for his wife's possessions of [[Kalamata]] and [[Chlemoutsi]], erected a [[Old Navarino castle|castle]] at Navarino. According to the Greek version, he intended this as a future fief for his nephew, [[Nicholas III of Saint Omer|Nicholas III]], although the Aragonese version attributes the construction to Nicholas III himself, a few years later. According to A. Bon, a construction under Nicholas II in the 1280s is more likely, possibly in the period 1287–89 when he served as the viceroy ({{lang|fr|[[Bailli of the Principality of Achaea|bailli]]}}) of Achaea.<ref name="Bon416">{{La Morée franque|page=416}}</ref> Despite Nicholas II's intentions, however, it is unclear whether his nephew did indeed inherit Navarino. If he did, it remained his until his death in 1317, when it and all the Messenian lands of the family reverted to the princely domain, as Nicholas III had no children.<ref name="Bon416"/>

The fortress remained relatively unimportant thereafter, except for the [[Battle of Sapienza|naval battle]] in 1354 between [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]],<ref name="EI2"/> and an episode in 1364, during the conflict between [[Marie de Bourbon, Princess of Achaea|Mary of Bourbon]] and the Prince [[Philip II, Prince of Taranto|Philip of Taranto]], due to Mary's attempt to claim the Principality following the death of her husband, [[Robert of Taranto]]. Mary had been given possession of Navarino (along with Kalamata and [[Mani Peninsula|Mani]]) by Robert in 1358, and the local [[castellan]], loyal to Mary, briefly imprisoned the new Prince's {{lang|fr|bailli}}, Simon del Poggio. Mary retained control of Navarino until her death in 1377.<ref>{{La Morée franque|pages=408–410, 416–417}}</ref> At about this time, [[Albanians]] settled in the area, while in 1381/2, Navarrese, Gascon and Italian mercenaries were active there.<ref name="EI2"/> From the early years of the 15th century, Venice set its eyes on the fortress of Navarino, fearing lest its rivals the Genoese seize it and use it as a base for attacks against the Venetian outposts of [[Methoni, Messenia|Modon]] and [[Koroni|Coron]]. In the event, the Venetians seized the fortress themselves in 1417 and, after prolonged diplomatic manoeuvring, succeeded in legitimizing their new possession in 1423.<ref name="EI2"/><ref>{{La Morée franque|pages=284, 417}}</ref>

===First Venetian and first Ottoman periods ===
[[File:Pylos Festung 380.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The new fortress (Neokastro)]]
In 1423, Navarino, like the rest of the Peloponnese, suffered its first Ottoman raid, led by [[Turakhan Bey]], which was repeated in 1452.<ref name="Savvides2" /> It was also at Navarino that Emperor [[John VIII Palaiologos]] embarked in 1437, heading for the [[Council of Ferrara]], and where the last [[Despot of the Morea]], [[Thomas Palaiologos]], embarked with his family in 1460, following the Ottoman conquest of the Despotate of the Morea.<ref name="Savvides2" /> After 1460, the fortress, along with the other Venetian outposts and [[Monemvasia]] and the [[Mani Peninsula]], were the only Christian-held areas in the peninsula.<ref name="Savvides2" /><ref name="EI2" /> Venetian control over Navarino survived the [[First Ottoman–Venetian War]] (1463–79), but not the [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1499–1503)|Second]] (1499–1503): following the Venetian defeat in the [[Battle of Modon (1500)|Battle of Modon]] in August 1500, the 3,000-strong garrison surrendered, although it was well provisioned for a siege. The Venetians recaptured it shortly after, on 3/4 December, but on 20 May 1501, a joint Ottoman land and sea attack under [[Kemal Reis]] and [[Hadım Ali Pasha]] retook it.<ref name="Savvides2" /><ref name="EI2" />

[[File:Antico acquedotto, Pylos.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Ancient aqueduct]]
The Ottomans used Navarino (which they called {{Transliteration|ota|Anavarin}} or {{Transliteration|ota|Avarna}}) as a naval base, either for piratical raids or for major fleet operations in the Ionian and Adriatic seas.<ref name="EI2" /> In 1572/3, the Ottoman chief admiral ([[Kapudan Pasha]]) [[Uluç Ali Reis]] built a [[New Navarino fortress|new fortress]] at Navarino ({{Transliteration|ota|Anavarin-i Cedid}}, "New Navarino", or {{lang|el|Νεόκαστρο}}, {{Transliteration|el|Neokastro}} in Greek), to replace the outdated Frankish castle.<ref name="EI2" />

The Venetians briefly captured Navarino in the 1650s during the [[Cretan War (1645–69)|Cretan War]].<ref name="EI2" />

In 1668, [[Evliya Çelebi]] described the city in his ''[[Seyahatname]]'':
<blockquote>
Anavarin-i Atik is an unequalled castle... the harbor is a safe anchorage...<br>in most streets of Anavarin-i Cedid there are many fountains of running water... The city is embellished with trees and vines so that the sun does not beat into the fine marketplace at all, and
all the city notables sit here, playing backgammon, chess, various kinds of draughts, and other board games....
</blockquote>

===Second Venetian period and Ottoman reconquest===
In 1685, during the early stages of the [[Morean War]], the Venetians under [[Francesco Morosini]] and [[Otto Wilhelm Königsmarck]] invaded the Peloponnese and captured most of it, successfully storming the two fortresses of Navarino in the process. With the peninsula safely in Venetian hands, Navarino became an administrative centre in the new "[[Kingdom of the Morea]]", as the Venetian province was called, until 1715, when the Ottomans [[Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–1718)|recovered the Peloponnese]].<ref name="EI2"/> The Venetian census of 1689 gave the population as 1,413, while twenty years later it had risen to 1,797 inhabitants.<ref name="EI2"/>

After the Ottoman reconquest, Navarino became the centre of a ''[[kaza]]'' in the [[Sanjak of the Morea]].<ref name="EI2"/> On 10 April 1770, after a six-day siege, the fortress of New Navarino surrendered to the Russians during the [[Orlov Revolt]]. The Ottoman garrison was allowed to depart for Crete, while the Russians repaired the fortress to make it their base. On 1 June, however, the Russians left, and the Ottomans re-entered the fort and burned and partially demolished it.<ref name="EI2"/> Meanwhile, the population gathered there had escaped to nearby Sphacteria, where Albanian mercenaries of the Ottomans slaughtered most of them.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nikolaou |first1=Georgios |title=Islamisations et Christianisations dans le Peloponnese (1715- 1832) |journal=Didaktorika.gr |date=1997 |page=183 |doi=10.12681/eadd/8139 |publisher=Universite des Sciences Humaines - Strasbourg II |hdl=10442/hedi/8139 |quote=A suivi l'abandon de Navarin. La flotille russe quitta le Péloponnèse entre le 26 mai et le 6 juin, n'emmenant avec elle que les chefs de la révolte: quelques évêques et des notables. La foule, qui implorait en vain leur aide, fut contrainte de se réfugier dans l'îlot voisin de Sphaktiria pour se sauver. La plupart d'entre eux furent exterminés par les Albanais |hdl-access=free}}</ref>

=== The Greek War of Independence of 1821 ===
{{Main|Greek War of Independence}}
[[File:I paradosi tou Neokastrou - by Hess.jpg|thumb|''Surrender of Neocastro'' during the [[Greek War of Independence]] by [[Peter von Hess]]|alt=|left]]After the outbreak of the [[Greek War of Independence]] against the Ottoman occupation in mid-March 1821, the Greeks quickly won many victories and proclaimed their independence on 1 January 1822. Navarino was besieged by the local Greeks on 29 March. The garrison, augmented by the local Muslim population of [[Kyparissia]], held out until the first week of August, when they were forced to capitulate. Despite their promise for safe conduct, the Greeks [[Navarino Massacre|massacred]] them all.<ref name="EI2" />

The Greek victories was short lived. The Sultan called for aid from his Egyptian vassal [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]], who dispatched his son [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]] to Greece with a fleet and 8,000 men, and later added 25,000 troops.<ref name=":8">''An Index of events in the military history of the Greek nation.'', Hellenic Army General Staff, Army History Directorate, Athens, 1998, pp. 51 and 54. {{ISBN|960-7897-27-7}}</ref> Ibrahim's intervention proved decisive: the region of Pylos fell on 18 May 1825 after the battles of [[Battle of Sphacteria (1825)|Sphacteria]] (8 May) and [[battle of Neokastro|Neokastro]] (11 May), much of the [[Peloponnese]] was reconquered in 1825; the gateway town of [[Siege of Messolonghi (1825)|Messolonghi]] fell in 1826; and Athens was taken in 1827. The only territory still held by Greek nationalists was in [[Nafplion]], [[Mani Peninsula|Mani]], [[Hydra, Saronic Islands|Hydra]], [[Spetses]] and [[Aegina]].<ref name=":7">C. M. Woodhouse, ''The Philhellenes'', London, Hodder et Stoughton, 1969, 192 <abbr>p.</abbr></ref>

=== The Naval Battle of Navarino (20 October 1827) ===
[[File:Navarin Garneray.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|''The Naval [[Battle of Navarino]]'', by [[Ambroise Louis Garneray]]]]A strong current of [[philhellenism]] had developed in Western Europe, especially after the fall in 1826 of Missolonghi, where the poet [[Lord Byron]] had died in 1824. Many artists and intellectuals like [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[Alexander Pushkin]], [[Gioachino Rossini]], [[Hector Berlioz]] or [[Eugène Delacroix]] (in his paintings ''Scenes massacres of Scio'' in 1824, and ''Greece on the ruins of Missolonghi'' in 1826), amplified the current of sympathy for the Greek cause in the public opinion. By the [[Treaty of London (1827)|Treaty of London of July 1827]], France, Russia and the United Kingdom recognised the autonomy of Greece, which remained a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire. The three powers agreed to a limited intervention in order to convince the [[Ottoman Porte|Porte]] to accept the terms of the convention. A plan to send a naval expedition as a demonstration of force was proposed and adopted; subsequently a fleet of 27 warships of the allied navies of [[British Empire|United Kingdom]], [[Kingdom of France|France]] and [[Russian Empire|Russia]] was sent to exert diplomatic pressure against Constantinople.<ref name=":7" /> It included twelve British ships (for 456 guns), seven French ships (352 guns) and eight Russian ships (490 guns), for a total firepower of nearly 1,300 guns. The [[Battle of Navarino]] (20 October 1827) resulted in the total destruction of the combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleet (around 60 warships destroyed).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=Christopher Montague |title=The Battle of Navarino |publisher=Hodder and Stoughton, London |year=1965}}</ref><ref>Eugène Bogdanovitch, ''La Bataille de Navarin d'après des documents inédits des archives impériales russes.'', G. Charpentier, E. Fasquelle, Paris, 1897.</ref>

An obelisk-shaped memorial dedicated to the victory of the Allied fleets and their three admirals, the British [[Edward Codrington]], the French [[Henri de Rigny]] and the Russian [[Lodewijk van Heiden]] was later erected on the central square of Pylos. The monument was the work of the sculptor Thomas Thomopoulos (1873–1937) and its unveiling took place in 1930, although it was completed in 1933.<ref>https://web-greece.gr/destinations/pylos-messinia/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926151659/https://web-greece.gr/destinations/pylos-messinia/ |date=2020-09-26 }} (in greek)</ref>

=== The liberation of Pylos (6 October 1828) and the construction of the modern city ===
{{Main|Morea expedition}}
[[File:Entrevue du général Maison et d'Ibrahim Pacha, à Navarin, septembre 1828.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Meeting between General Maison and Ibrahim Pasha in 1828 in Navarino (by Jean-Charles Langlois)]]
On 6 October 1828, Pylos was definitively liberated from the Ottoman–Egyptian troops of Ibrahim Pasha by the French troops of the [[Morea expedition]] commanded by [[Nicolas Joseph Maison|Marshal Nicolas-Joseph Maison]].<ref name=":17">[[Nicolas Joseph Maison|Marshal Nicolas-Joseph Maison]], ''Dépêches adressées au ministre de la Guerre Louis-Victor de Caux, vicomte de Blacquetot'', octobre 1828, in Jacques Mangeart, Supplemental Chapter of the ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=OixCAAAAcAAJ Souvenirs de la Morée: recueillis pendant le séjour des Français dans le Péloponèse] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322121512/https://books.google.com/books?id=OixCAAAAcAAJ |date=2023-03-22 }}'', Igonette, Paris, 1830.</ref> The mission of this expeditionary corps of 15,000 men, sent by king [[Charles X of France]] to the Peloponnese between 1828 and 1833, was to implement the Treaty London of 1827, an agreement under which the Greeks would have the right to an independent state. The French troops liberated the cities of Navarino (Pylos), Modon ([[Methoni, Messenia|Methoni]]), Coron ([[Koroni]]) and [[Patras]] in October 1828.<ref name="EI2" />

The current city of Pylos was built starting in the spring of 1829, outside the walls of Neokastro, on the model of the [[bastide]]s of Southwest France and the cities of the [[Ionian Islands]] (which share common features, such as a central geometrical square bordered by covered galleries built with a succession of contiguous [[arch]]es, each supported by a [[colonnade]], as the [[Arcade (architecture)|arcades]] of Pylos or [[Corfu]]).<ref name=":21">{{in lang|el}} Kalogerakou Pigi P. (''Καλογεράκου Πηγή Π.''), ''The contribution of the French expeditionary force to the restoration of the fortresses and the cities of Messinia'' (''[http://www.army.gr/sites/default/files/h_symbolh_toy_gallikoy_ekstrateytikoy_somatos_apokatastash_froyrion_messhnias.pdf Η συμβολή του Γαλλικού εκστρατευτικού σώματος στην αποκατάσταση των φρουρίων και των πόλεων της Μεσσηνίας] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013083555/http://www.army.gr/sites/default/files/h_symbolh_toy_gallikoy_ekstrateytikoy_somatos_apokatastash_froyrion_messhnias.pdf |date=2020-10-13 }})'', in Οι πολιτικοστρατιωτικές σχέσεις Ελλάδας – Γαλλίας (19ος – 20ός αι.), Directorate of the Army History (''Διεύθυνση Ιστορίας Στρατού''), 13–41, Athens, 2011.</ref> Pylos's urban framework was designed by [[Joseph Victor Audoy|Joseph-Victor Audoy]], lieutenant-colonel of the [[military engineering]] of the Morea expedition, who originated from [[Tarn (department)|Tarn]], a department of Southwest France. This plan was approved by the governor of independent Greece [[Ioannis Kapodistrias]] on 15 January 1831, making it the second urban plan (after that of Methoni) in the history of the modern Greek state.<ref>In the Archives of the Greek [[Ministry for the Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works]] (ΥΠΕΧΩΔΕ) are 2 original copies of [[Methoni, Messenia|Methoni]]'s urban plan (signed by Ioannis Kapodistrias, one of which bears a bottom note from Audoy: "''Designed and drawn by me, lieutenant of the military engineering, Modon, 4 May 1829 – Signature – Audoy''") and a copy of Navarino's urban plan (signed by Kapodístrias on 15 January 1831). These urban plans carry respectively the Numbers 1 and 2 of the Archives of the Ministry.</ref> The fortifications of ''Neokastro'' were raised, a barracks was built (the "Maison's building" which houses nowadays the Archaeological Museum of Pylos), many improvements were made to the city (installation of school, hospital, church, postal service, shops, bridges, squares, fountains, gardens, etc.), the old Ottoman aqueduct, which had fallen into ruins until 1828, was restored (it then served until 1907), and the road between Navarin and Modon, the first road of independent Greece (which is still used today), was also built by the French engineers.<ref name=":21" />

Part of the Morea expedition were also 19 scientists from the "Morea Scientific Mission",<ref name=":5">[[Jean-Baptiste Bory de Saint-Vincent]], ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8626687z Relation de l'Expédition scientifique de Morée: Section des sciences physiques] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901043101/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8626687z |date=2022-09-01 }}'', F.-G. Levrault, Paris, 1836.</ref> whose work proved essential to the ongoing development of the [[First Hellenic Republic|new Greek State]] and, more broadly, marked a major milestone in the modern history of archaeology, cartography and natural sciences, as well as in the study of Greece. According to one of their population censuses in the province of Navarino in 1829, it had a total of 1,596 inhabitants.<ref name=":5" /> Some French merchants and officers of the Morea expedition, who remained in the city with their families after the troops returned to France in 1833, settled in a district located in the north of the city, near a Catholic church that has since been demolished. This district is still called today "Francomahalas" (in [[Greek language|Greek]]: Φραγκομαχαλάς, from [[Arabic]]: محلة (''[[mahallah]]''), district) or "Francoklisa" (in [[Greek language|Greek]]: Φραγκοκλησά, church of the French).<ref name=":21" /> The French always had a particular interest in the city, and at that time, the greatest French writers wrote texts specifically dedicated to Pylos, such as [[François-René de Chateaubriand]] in 1806,<ref>François-René de Chateaubriand, ''Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem et de Jérusalem à Paris, en allant par la Grèce et revenant par l'Égypte, la Barbarie et l'Espagne'', Le Normant, Paris, 1811.</ref> [[Eugène Sue]]<ref>Eugène Sue, ''Combat de Navarin'', Paris, 1842. He had indeed himself participated in the [[Battle of Navarino]] on 10 October 1827 and had published a detailed description of it.</ref> and [[Victor Hugo]]<ref>Victor Hugo, poem ''Navarin'' in ''[[les Orientales]]'', Paris, 1829.</ref> in 1827, [[Edgar Quinet]] in 1830<ref name=":4">Edgar Quinet (member of the scientific commission of the Morea expedition), ''[https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6106058h.texteImage De la Grèce moderne, et de ses rapports avec l'antiquité.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220901043044/https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k6106058h.texteImage |date=2022-09-01 }}'', F.-G. Levrault, Paris, 1830.</ref> and [[Alphonse de Lamartine]] in 1832.<ref>Alphonse de Lamartine, ''Souvenirs, impressions, pensées et paysages, pendant un voyage en Orient (1832–1833)'', Librairie Charles Gosselin, Paris, 1835.</ref>

In 1833, after the departure of the French, the name "Pylos" (in reference to the ancient city of King Nestor) was given to the new city of Navarino by royal decree of the newly installed king [[Otto of Greece|Otto I of Greece]].<ref name=":21" />

=== 20th century ===
The fortress of Pylos was transformed into a place of deportation of political opponents during the [[4th of August Regime|totalitarian regime of Metaxas]] between 1936 and 1941. Administratively, Pylos was the seat of the Municipality of Pylos between 1912 and 1946, then became the seat of the Deme of Pylos between 1946 and 2010. Since the 2011 reform, Pylos has been the seat of the new Municipality of [[Pylos-Nestor]].