March 25 in Greece is a double holiday – Independence Day and the Annunciation

Greek Independence Day (Greek Ημέρα της Ελληνικής Ανεξαρτησίας), Greek National Revival Day or March 25 (Greek 25ης Μαρτίου) is a national holiday in Greece. On this day, Greeks and philhellenes pay homage to the heroes of the revolution of 1821-1829.

The holiday coincides with the Orthodox feast of the Annunciation, which in Greece, according to the Julian calendar, is also celebrated annually on March 25th.

On the eve of the holiday, white and blue flags are hung on the balconies, student parades are held in the cities and wreaths are laid at memorials. On the day of the holiday, after the morning church service, large-scale military parades are held, the main one is on Syntagma Square in Athens.

According to ΓΕΕΘΑ, at 06:21 in the morning the Lycabettus artillery will fire 21 salutes, and the military band will traditionally perform “Eotinos” (εκτέλεση Εωθινού).

At 08:00, the official raising of the State flag on the Acropolis will take place. At 10:00 in the Athens Cathedral, in the presence of the Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Hieronymus II and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a liturgy (doxology) will be held.

At 10:01 a solemn volley will be fired again (the traditional artillery salute consists of 21 volleys)and at 10:55 the President of the Hellenic Republic will lay a wreath at the monument to the “Unknown Soldier” on Syntagma.

At 11:00 a parade of the Greek Armed Forces will take place. It will be broadcast on TV channels. The parade will be attended by:

• Column in historical costumes.
• Children in traditional Greek costumes.
• Navy (procession of sailors and officers).
• Motorized part of the army.
• Motorized part of the Air Force.
• Motorized department of the Greek police.
• Motorized part of the Coast Guard.
• Motorized Fire Regiment.
• A column of infantry divisions from all three branches of the armed forces, as well as the security forces.

Reference:

March 25 is a special day for all Greeks, as it combines two great holidays at once, the Annunciation and Independence Day of Greece. These two holidays have a closer connection with each other than it might seem at first glance. The very name “Annunciation” speaks for itself. It is symbolic that this day has become one of the main national holidays for the Greeks.

In 1821, it was on March 25 that the Metropolitan of the Greek city Patras Herman blessed the banner of the Greek national uprising against the Ottoman yoke. Then another 11 years of bloody struggle followed before Treaty of Constantinople approved Greece as an independent state. And yet, despite the fact that military happiness for the Greeks had its ups and downs, it is March 25 that is considered to be the starting point Greek independence.

The banner consecrated by Metropolitan Herman was a white cloth with a blue cross in the middle. It was soon accepted as official flag of Greece, and in this form it is still used by the Greek Navy. As for the rest of the country’s structures, several decades ago they switched to a more familiar option for us today. Greek flag: nine white and blue stripes with a white cross in the upper left corner. According to the most common version, the nine stripes symbolize the nine syllables of the slogan of the fighters for independence: “Freedom or death” (gr. E-lef-te-ri-ya and ta-na-tos), and the cross symbolizes Christianity, as the state religion of Greece.

National heroes of the struggle for Greek independence considered clefts (literally “thieves”). These are partisan detachments of an anarchist nature, which “descended from the mountains”, inflicting sudden blows on the enemy army. It cannot be denied that subsequent generations, for educational purposes, significantly ennobled the two-faced appearance of the klefts, but the winners are not judged … Perhaps the most prominent figure among this warlike tribe is the hereditary kleft Theodoros Kolokotronis, monuments to which can be found in almost all major cities of Greece.

Among contemporary Slavs little is known about the fact that Russia and Ukraine are directly involved in the preparation of the Greek uprising. After all, it was in Odessa that a secret society was founded Filiki Eteria (gr. “Society of Friends”), the purpose of which was the creation of an independent Greek state. Let’s not pretend: the community mainly consisted of young people of Greek origin, but philhellenic heroes (Greek “friends of the Greeks”) among the Slavic brothers are also known. Together with the native Greeks, they went on liberation operations, sometimes doomed to defeat, and shed their blood for the “Great Idea” – freedom and Greek independence.

In our time Annunciation And Independence Day in Greece celebrated very widely. Parades are held all over the country, schoolchildren prepare performances and productions on the Greek-Turkish theme, learn patriotic songs. According to the existing tradition, cod is eaten everywhere on this day (gr. bacaliaros). Everyone eats it, from young to old, but not even all Greeks remember why.

The fact is that this day always falls on period Great Lentwhen fasting people deny themselves not only meat, but also fish. But the feast of the Annunciation (March 25, according to the new style) allows for a slight indulgence and allows the presence of fish on the Lenten table. The question remains why of all the fish it is cod (bakaliaros) received such an honor? The answer is extremely simple: not everyone is lucky to live near the sea and have constant access to fresh fish – in some regions, fish had to be transported from afar. And of all the types of Mediterranean fish, it is cod that tolerates transportation and long-term storage outside the refrigerator in the best possible way, which has long made it an indispensable dish on this holiday.

Source link