Those of you who have found yourself in front of the simple but at the same time imposing the Unknown Soldier Monument, in front of her mansion Hellenic Parliament, you will surely have seen in stone right and left a series of area names in capital letters.
"Nevrokopi", "Korea", "Philadelphia", "Atlantic", "Ellason", "Petsovo", "Mediterranean", "Ionian" and many more.
But what does all this mean and why are they there?
Let's take them in order…
First, the monument of the Unknown Soldier was erected by decision of the dictator Theodoros Pangalos himself on March 3, 1926, who at that time also held the capacity of Minister of Defense.
The unveilings were made a few years later, on March 25, 1932 by the then Prime Minister Andreas Michalakopoulos with great formality and in the presence of many foreign delegations.
The honorary guarding of the area was undertaken by a special military corps of the Guard of the President of the Republic, which was renamed "Guard of the monument of the Unknown Soldier".
In the year 1935, with the return of King George II, the well-to-do of the monument will be given the name "Royal Guard" and since the change of government it has been called the "Presidential Guard".
The place names now on the right and left of the monument in large letters have been gradually added over decades and reflect the places where the Greek army fought many deadly battles during modern history.
As we look at the cenotaph on the left, the battles of the First Balkan War have been engraved. Then, in the porphyry stones that exist on the stairs, we read the places where we fought during the Second Balkan War and during the Asia Minor Campaign.
On the right, as we look at the Parliament, we read the locations where we participated during the First World War but also in the operations in which the Greek army took part after the October Revolution of 1917, in Russia.
After the Liberation from the Germans at the end of 1944, the battlefields that we took part in during World War II were drawn, and a few years later the parts of the military operations that we took part in fighting in distant Korea (from November 1950 to December 1955) .
In the last 30 years, five more areas have been added to the massive stones of the monument. In 1994, with the decision of the Parliament, the name "Cyprus" was added, in honor of those who lost their lives in Megalonisos during the Turkish invasion in the summer of 1974.
The most recent addition, however, is that of 2015, where, following a suggestion by the General Staff of the Navy and a relevant decision of the Council of Chiefs of General Staff and the Ministries of Culture and National Education and Religions, the words "Aegean", "Ionian", "Mediterranean" and " Atlantic "as a sign of gratitude for the Greek sailors who fell during the war but also for the sacrifices of the Merchant Navy crews during World War II as many were those who gave their lives trying to supply Europe with weapons, food and raw materials. loading goods from the other side of the Atlantic.
In fact, for the names of these four seas, the catalyst was the intervention of the foundation "Grove of Greek naval tradition" under the chairmanship of its president, retired admiral Kyriakos Kyriakidis.
All battle places listed on the monument
To the left of the monument we read:
PINDOS
MOROVA = KORYTSA = KALAMAS
TOMOROS = TREBESINA
CHIMARRA = ARGYROKASTRON
731 = ΜΠΟΥΒΕΣΙ = ΚΑΛΠΑΚΙ
MEDITERRANEAN = ATLANTIC
To the right of the monument we read:
CLOSED = EXCLUSIVE
OSTROVITSA = POGRADETS =
RUPEL = MARGIN = CRETE = EL-ALAMEIN
RIMINI = RUBIKON = DODECANESE = KOREA
CYPRUS = AEGEAN = IONIAN
On the left stairs we read (with this arrangement and the separation of words):
ΕΛΑΣΣΩΝ = ΣΑΡΑΝΤΑΠΟΡΟΝ
LAZARADES = STENA: DOOR
Σ = ΚΑΤΕΡΙΝΗ = ΣΟΡΟΒΙΤΣ
GIANNITSA = THES
SALONIKI = OSTR
OBON = GIRL =
PESTA = GRYMPOVO
PENTAGE
DIA = PREVEZA =
EARTHQUAKE = MA
NOLIASSA = BI
ZANI = DRISKOS
ΚΙΛΚΙΣ = ΛΑΧΑΝ
Α = ΜΠΕΛΕΣ = ΚΡΕ
SNAPSHOT
PETSOVO = NERV
OKOPI = BANIT
ΣΑ = ΜΑΧΩΜΕΑ
ΓΟΛΟΜΠΙΛΟ = Σ
BORSCO = PRESS
ΛΑΠ = ΕΡΙΓΩΝ
RAVINE = MONASTERY
SKRA = STRYMON = DOIRANI = BELE
S = GRANCORONE = JENA
On the right stairs we read (with this arrangement and the separation of words):
ΧΕΡΣΩΝ = ΣΕΡΜΙ
ΚΑΣ = ΟΔΗΣΣΟΣ = ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥΠΟΛΙΣ
ARTAKI = AIDIN
ΙΟΝ = ΠΡΟΥΣΣΑ =
PHILADELPHIA
TUMLUBUNA
Ρ = ΚΙΟΥΤΑΧΕΙΑ = Δ
ORILION
AFION KARACHI
ΑΡ = ΣΑΓΓΑΡΙΟΣ
BEAUTIFUL