The construction of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument a few years after the Asia Minor Catastrophe aimed at highlighting both the national importance of death in the service of the country and the historical continuity of the modern Hellenic State in connection with its classical past of Ancient Greece. The location for its construction in Syntagma square (Old Royal Palace Square) was selected in early 1926. However, the construction of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier monument was approved in 1928 by the cabinet, awarding the project to the architect Emmanouil Lazaridis.

The monument design constitutes an excellent cultural example of modern classicism. It is a Π-shaped retaining wall made of carved limestone, with two side staircases. At the centre of the semicircle, there is a cenotaph – sarcophagus with a warrior lying on the ground, holding a circular shield and wearing an Ancient Greek-style helmet. The warrior’s body is represented in a way that creates the illusion that it is alive and ready to arise to continue fighting the enemy. To the left and right of the Monument are two phrases from the Epitaph of the Athenian historian of Ancient Greece, Thucydides. To the right, «ΑΝΔΡΩΝ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΩΝ ΠΑΣΑ ΓΗ ΤΑΦΟΣ» (“The whole earth is the sepulchre of famous men”); to the left «ΜΙΑ ΚΛΙΝΗ ΚΕΝΗ ΦΕΡΕΤΑΙ ΕΣΤΡΩΜΕΝΗ ΤΩΝ ΑΦΑΝΩΝ» (“There’s one empty bier made up for the unidentified fallen ones”). The carved limestone on the wall bears inscriptions of the locations of the most glorious and deadly battles of the Balkan Wars, World War I, the Southern Russia Campaign, the Asia Minor Campaign, and World War II. In 2014, in honour of the heroes of the Hellenic Navy and the Merchant Marine, the following locations were added: AEGEAN SEA – IONIAN SEA – MEDITERRANEAN SEA – ATLANTIC. The monument was unveiled on 25 March 1932.

#ΕλληνικόςΣτρατός, #HellenicArmy