The strategic genius of Theodoros Kolokotronis and the valour of his warriors brought the victory against a numerous Turkish army at Valtetsi. Alongside Kolokotronis, the Mavromihalis’s, Mitropetrovas, Plapoutas, Ghiatrakos, Niketaras and others also fought. That victory was highly significant because it opened up the way of the Greeks for Tripolitsa, i.e., today’s Tripolis of Arcadia in the Peloponnese. That town was the military and political capital of the Peloponnese during that period and the base of a powerful Ottoman army.
Photograph : “Kolokotronis praying”. Watercolour painting by Apostolos Gheralis, War Museum, Athens
