1821-2021 200 YEARS OF GREEK INDEPENDENCE

1821 – 2021
This year celebrates the 200th Anniversary of Greek Independence. The 25th March – The Annunciation and  Independence day of Greece.
A double celebration day for the Greeks. As Orthodox Christians the 25th March is the celebration of the Annunciation. As Greeks it is the Day of Independence.

After 400 years of rule by the Turkish, on 25th March 1821, Paleon Patron Germanos, a Greek Bishop raised the Greek flag of the Revolution. All over Greece the battle began for freedom and after many years the Greeks regained their freedom. Their independence  was gained from the Turkish Ottoman Empire’s rule in 1832. Great leader  of the time, Theodoros Kolokotronis, signed treaties recognizing Greece as a new state a new kingdom. The treaty had been agreed in London after the European powers conference, with the so called Protocls of London.

A key point in the battles was in 1827 when intervening British Russian and French warships beat a Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Bay of Navarino. In the western Peloponnese. Many volunteers were stirred by sensational newspaper reports at the time and also went to help. These included Napoleonic soldiers and religious zealots. Sympathizers like Victor Hugo, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Alexander Pushkins.

This year we celebrate the Bicentennial 1821-2021 with military parades, by land, air and sea. Participation from many countries including, France, America, Russian and British forces. French war planes will fly over the Athenian capital, marking the uprise of Greeks.

Sydney Opera House will be lit by the Greeek flag, and many landmarks in the USA and Canada and all over Greece will also be lit with our flag.

In celebrations in Athens we will be honoured by many heads of state, including, Russian Prime MInister Mikhali Misustin, Heir to the British throne, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiadis, and French Minister of Defence, representing Emanuel Macron.

Obviously due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, celebrations will be performed under strict controls.

But in every corner of the world where Greeks live, flags will be flown from the morning of 23rd March till the eve of 25th March, making the three day celebration very special.

Xronis Polla. ΖΗΤΩ ΕΛΛΑΣ! We are proud to be Greek.