The Battle of Lepanto took place in the Gulf of Corinth on October 7, 1571 when a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of southern European Catholic maritime states, defeated the main fleet of the Ottoman Empire. Each side had over 200 ships. In five hours of fighting, over 25,000 were killed, wounded or captured, and large numbers of Ottoman ships captured or sunk. Lepanto was the last major naval battle in the Mediterranean fought entirely between galleys and has been assigned great symbolic importance. Giorgio Vasari fresco commissioned by Pope Pius (cropped and cleaned)