The Battle of Lepanto is a naval engagement taking place on October 7, 1571 in which a fleet of the Holy League, a coalition of European Catholic maritime states arranged by Pope Pius V, led by Spanish admiral Don Juan of Austria and mostly financed by Spain, decisively defeats the fleet of the Ottoman Empire on the northern edge of the Gulf of Corinth, off western Greece.

The Ottoman forces sailing westwards from their naval station in Lepanto  meett the Holy League forces, which come from Messina, Sicily, where they had previously gathered.

The victory of the Holy League prevens the Ottoman Empire from expanding further along the European side of the Mediterranean.

Lepanto is the last major naval battle in the Mediterranean fought entirely between galleys and has been assigned great symbolic and historical importance by several historians.