The Ottoman invasion of Otranto occurred between 1480 and 1481 at the Italian city of Otranto in Apulia, southern Italy. Forces of the Ottoman Empire invaded and laid siege to the city, they captured it on 11 August 1480 establishing the first Ottoman outpost in Italy. According to a traditional account, more than 800 inhabitants were beheaded after the city was captured. The Martyrs of Otranto are still celebrated in Italy. A year later the Ottoman garrison surrendered the city following a siege by Christian forces, uncertainty upon the death of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and the intervention of papal forces led by the Genoese Paolo Fregoso. Background The attack on Otranto was part of an abortive attempt by the Ottomans to invade and conquer Italy—especially Rome. In the summer of 1480, a force of nearly 20,000 Ottoman Turks under the command of Gedik Ahmed Pasha invaded southern Italy. The first part of the plan was to capture the port city of Otranto. The 15 years long war between the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Sultanate, the two most dominant powers, in terms of trade and military force, over the whole of the Mediterranean Sea, including the Black Sea, had just ended resulting in the Peace of Constantinople. Sultan Mehmed II Fatih had declared himself "Kaysar-i Rûm" after taking control of Constantinople in 1453, restoring the Greek Orthodox Church, but banning the Roman Catholics. Invasion of Italy Siege On 28 July, an Ottoman fleet of 128 ships, including 28 galleys, arrived near the Neapolitan city of Otranto. Many of these troops had come from the siege of Rhodes. The garrison and citizens of Otranto retreated to the Castle of Otranto. On 11 August, after a 15-day siege, Gedik Ahmed ordered the final assault. When the walls were breached the Turkish army methodically passed from house to house, sacking, looting, and setting them on fire. Upon reaching the cathedral, "they found Archbishop Stefano Agricolo, fully vested and crucifix in hand" awaiting them with Count Francesco Largo, the garrison commander and Bishop Stefano Pendinelli, who distributed the Eucharist and sat with the women and children of Otranto while a Dominican friar led the faithful in prayer. A total of 12,000 were killed and 5,000 enslaved, including victims from the territories of the Salentine peninsula around the city, and the cathedral turned into a mosque. Martyrs of Otranto The Martyrs of Otranto