Hero of the battle of Peta
Occupation: Officer
1781 – 1822
Pietro Tarella was one of the first organizers of a regular army in Greece and a hero of the battle of Peta, which took place on July 4, 1822 in Peta village, 5km out of Arta.
A fighter until the last minute
Pietro Tarella was born in Turin. As an officer in the army of the Kingdom of Italy, he was a member of Napoleon’s Great Army during the Napoleonic Wars. He took part in the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815 but after the french defeat and the resignation of Napoleon from the french throne on June 22, 1815, Tarella returned to Turin, where he joined the liberal movements of his country. With the beginning of the Greek Revolution of 1821, Tarella was one of the first Philhellenes to decide to go to Greece and offer his services. He left Trieste and arrived in Greece (in Hydra) on June 7, 1821, with the same ship that carried Dimitrios Ypsilantis, Panagiotis Anagnostopoulos, the heroic French Philhellene Joseph Baleste and the important Italian Philhellene Dania. After the battle of Tripolitsa, Tarella returned to Italy, with the aim of introducing more of his compatriots to the Philhellenic movement, and to procure ammunition for the Greeks fighters and the Philhellenes. After completing his mission in Italy, Tarella returned to Greece on January 3, 1822. There he undertook the Monumetask of forming the Infantry of the first Regular Army in Greece. The battle of Peta in Arta was unfortunately his last battle.
Greece pays tribute to Pietro Tarella and his brave comrades, who fought to the end for the Freedom of Greece, with the monument in Peta and is eternally grateful for their sacrifice.