Scale model of Battle of Lepanto galley made in Malta for Greek musuem

Malta's connection with the 1571 Battle of Lepanto acquired a modern-day link recently when ship model maker Joseph Abela completed a scale model of a galley for a museum in Nafpactos, Greece.

The famous battle took place at Nafpactos in the Corinthian Gulf.

Mr Abela was commissioned by Notis Botzaris to make a 1:50 scale model for his maritime museum, which focuses solely on the Battle of Lepanto. The museum forms part of the Botzaris Foundation.

The Battle of Lepanto marked the end of Turkish naval supremacy and the beginning of the Ottoman Empire's decline on land and sea.

The most important result of the battle was perhaps its effect on men's minds: the victory killed the myth that the Turks could not be beaten. It was their first great defeat at sea.

The model is of the Capitana, flagship of Don Juan of Austria, himself a Spaniard who was leading the huge Christian fleet at Lepanto.

In fact, Mr Abela based his model on a copy of the design of the Capitana that is housed at the Maritime Museum in Barcelona. The Maritime Museum has a copy of that Capitana design.

"It took me over a year to construct the model," Mr Abela said.

Made of oak, the model of the galley is 1.2 metres long, 87 cms high and 28 cms wide, with the oars stowed in.

Mr Botzaris runs a foundation with the aim of keeping the significance of the Battle of Lepanto in the public eye. His connection with Malta came about as a result of his close connections with Evarist Saliba, Maltese Ambassador to Greece.

"Mr Saliba had suggested to Mr Botzaris to visit Malta to see the kind of work I do for the Maritime Museum in Vittoriosa where I work," Mr Abela said.

"According to Mr Botzaris, there were no ship model makers in Greece who had the knowledge to construct such a galley."

Mr Abela said that Air Malta and the Foreign Ministry in Malta were of great assistance to him to get the commission finalised.

Marcos Botzaris, Mr Botzaris' cousin, flew to Malta to gauge Mr Abela's technical know-how and level of draughtsmanship in the models he makes.

The Maltese connection with Lepanto is that three galleys of the Order of St John, the Santa Maria della Vittoria, the San Giovanni and the San Pietro, under the command of Fra Pietro Giustiniani, had left Malta to join the other Christian warships there.

Mr Abela, 50, joined the Maritime Museum in 1991 as a ship model maker after placing first among 12 candidates in an examination for 'a restorer of antique ship models'.

He has taken part in various conferences on model ship building and model ship repair in Greenwich, Rochford, in France and Grado, in northern Italy.

The Botzaris Foundation houses about 80 copies of paintings and frescoes derived from various sources showing scenes of the Battle of Lepanto.

The collection includes etchings showing episodes from the naval battle, ex voto paintings, allegories and portraits of the main personalities who led the bloody campaign.

"The aim of the museum is not merely to record the Battle of Lepanto but to help visitors understand the mindset of the people of those days.

"The paintings and engravings do not directly represent the galleys involved in that huge struggle and the model of the galley fills that void," Mr Abela added proudly.

The model of the Capitana takes pride of place at the Botzaris Museum as it represents the might and valour of the 16th century Christian forces.