March 25^th
Hellenic Independence Day Celebrations

On March 25, 1821 the Bishop Germanos of Patras raised the Greek flag at the Monastery of Agia Lavra in Peloponnissos and the Greek revolution started against the Turks.  The people of Greece shouted “Freedom or Death” and then fought the War of Independence for 9 years (1821-1829) until a small part of modern Greece was finally liberated.  Greece was later declared an independent nation by the Treaty of Constantinople in July 1832.  The anniversary of Greece’s independence (March 25, 1821) is a national holiday in Greece and was deliberately chosen to coincide with the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary.