Mer-Égée

Department of Mer-Égée
Département de Mer-Égée
1797–1798
The three departments of Greece
StatusDepartment of the French First Republic
Chef-lieuZakynthos
37°47′N 20°53′E / 37.78°N 20.89°E / 37.78; 20.89
Common languagesGreek
Other languagesFrench (administrative)
Government
 Commissioner
Chriseuil de Rulhière
Historical eraFrench Revolutionary Wars
17 October 1797
 Establishment
7 November 1797
 Fall of Zakynthos
25 October 1798
25 March 1802
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Venetian rule in the Ionian Islands
Septinsular Republic
Pashalik of Yanina
Today part ofGreece

Mer-Égée (French: [mɛʁ eʒe]; French for "Aegean Sea") was one of three short-lived French departments of Greece. It came into existence after Napoleon's conquest in 1797 of the Republic of Venice, when Venetian Greek possessions such as the Ionian islands fell to the French Directory.