Yatagan of Giorgakis Olympios exhibited in the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest as part of "Imagining the Balkans" temporary exhibition
This item belongs to the National Historical Museum in Athens and it was temporarily exhibited as part of "Imagining the Balkans" exhibition hosted by the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest.
The yatagan belonged to the klepht (bandit, hajduk) Giorgakis Olymbios (Iordache Olimpiotul) who took part in the 1804 Serbian uprising against the turks and died in the 1821 battle against the turks at Secu Monastery in Moldova (nowadays Romania).
The battle was part of the Greek Revolution in 1821.
More on Klephts: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klepht
More on Giorgakis Olympios: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgakis_Olympios
Also, Giorgos Olympios is the one responsable for the arrest of Romanian revolutionary Tudor Vladimirescu in Goleşti.
The yatagan was a distinctive weapon of predilection in the Balkans in 18th - 19th centuries and came to be seen as a feature of romantic conception of the Orient.
One can find hints of the events at Secu Monastery even in "Amintiri din copilărie" ("Childhood memories" or "Recollections from childhood") by Ion Creangă, in the story of David Creangă from Pipirig: "Pe acest deal, Smărăndiță, am fugit în vremea zaverei, cu mă-ta, cu tine şi cu frate-tău Ioan, de frica unei cete de turci, care se bătuse chiar atunci cu volintirii la Secu şi apoi se îndreptară spre Pipirig, după jăfuit."
Yatagan of Giorgakis Olympios exhibited in the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest as part of "Imagining the Balkans" temporary exhibition
This item belongs to the National Historical Museum in Athens and it was temporarily exhibited as part of "Imagining the Balkans" exhibition hosted by the National History Museum of Romania in Bucharest.
The yatagan belonged to the klepht (bandit, hajduk) Giorgakis Olymbios (Iordache Olimpiotul) who took part in the 1804 Serbian uprising against the turks and died in the 1821 battle against the turks at Secu Monastery in Moldova (nowadays Romania).
The battle was part of the Greek Revolution in 1821.
More on Klephts: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klepht
More on Giorgakis Olympios: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giorgakis_Olympios
Also, Giorgos Olympios is the one responsable for the arrest of Romanian revolutionary Tudor Vladimirescu in Goleşti.
The yatagan was a distinctive weapon of predilection in the Balkans in 18th - 19th centuries and came to be seen as a feature of romantic conception of the Orient.
One can find hints of the events at Secu Monastery even in "Amintiri din copilărie" ("Childhood memories" or "Recollections from childhood") by Ion Creangă, in the story of David Creangă from Pipirig: "Pe acest deal, Smărăndiță, am fugit în vremea zaverei, cu mă-ta, cu tine şi cu frate-tău Ioan, de frica unei cete de turci, care se bătuse chiar atunci cu volintirii la Secu şi apoi se îndreptară spre Pipirig, după jăfuit."