Monument of Nikitas Stamatelopoulos – Nikitaras

Nikitaras the ‘Turkofagos’ (‘Turk-eater’)

Eminent hero and military leader during the Greek Revolution, he was born in 1781 in the village Megali Anastasova, at the foothills of Mt. Taygetos. In 1818, he joined the ‘Philiki Etairia’ (‘Society of Friends’) and, with the start of the Revolution, he took part in the first battle, at Valtetsi in Arkadia, on 24th April 1821. He was given the nickname ‘Turkofagos’ (‘Turk-eater’) after the battle of Dolianos, where with only 600 soldiers, he managed to conquer thousands of Turks. He was at the side of his uncle Theodoros Kolokotronis at the fall of Tripolitsas. He died on 24th September 1849, blind and impoverished, with the government declaring a three-day period of mourning.

What are the characteristics of the sculpture?

The monument of Nikitaras is a marble obelisk set on a rectangular base. At the front of the base there is a representation of a battle scene in relief, depicting the General attacking a Turkish cavalry soldier. There are many dead soldiers at their feet, while in the background there are soldiers with horses who are fighting each other. It is likely that this scene is based on the corresponding scene in a wall painting of Peter von Es based on the Battle of Dervenakia. On the back of the monument, verses by the poet Kostis Palamas dedicated to Nikitaras are engraved. 

When was the work commissioned and installed?

The monument was installed probably in 1926 by Aspasia Potamianou, after a bequest from her husband, a politician from Nafplio, Ilias Potamianos. The unveiling took place during the two-day celebration of the 100th anniversary of the liberation of Nafplio.