Descent into Insignificance — The Second Period of Turkish Rule (1715 — 1821)

In the summer of 1715 a powerful Turkish army moved against Monemvasia, after having conquered other parts of the Morea. While the Turkish commander was still drawing up plans to besiege or attack the city, the Venetian podestà, Federigo Badoer, entered into negotiations with him. The outcome was that Badoer surrendered the city in return for a considerable money payment. Monemvasia again became Turkish, and remained Turkish until the liberation of Greece in 1821.

During this second Turkish hegemony, the city sank into insignificance. Large tracts of land were left untilled. Viticulture, revived unter the Venetians, again disappeared under the influence of the Islamic Turks. Commercial activity likewise declined. The only item that merchants continued to export was a dyestuff that they sent to Alexandria to be used as coloring for the red Turkish fezzes. The population size also declined; by 1770 only about 150 Greek families still lived in Monemvasia, and the Turkish population was not much larger.

In 1770 the Greek and Albanian population of the Morea rebelled against the Turkish government. The Russian, Prince Orlov, led the disturbance, which was part of the larger Russo Turkish conflict. After the Russians left, the Turks suppressed the rebellion with cruel ferocity. The entire enterprise suffered from poor planning and inept leadership. Following the defeat of the insurgents, many Greek families fled to the aegean islands. Like other parts of Greece, Monemvasia experienced a general population decline; by 1804, Greeks lived in only six of the 350 houses still occupied in the city.