Souli and the fight for freedom

Souli. A harsh and stiff landscape. Secluded deep inside the mountains, lonesome and proud. A poetic scenery that heartens the spirit of a man, and he, deeply rooted in it, embraces it, living a life austere, strict, and unbowed.

Souli. Where whispers of untamed bravery and sacrifice were born. Whispers that became actions. Actions that became legends.

An iron generation until today / which, some can say, is still bred by Dorian mothers

Lord Byron about the proud Souliotes

The struggles and sacrifices made by the Souliotes during their wars against the ambitious Ali, pasha of Ioannina, have reached legendary proportions. They ended in 1803, when they were forced to abandon their homeland.

Not all of them. A handful of women and children, were trapped as they were trying to escape. In order to avoid capture, enslavement and humiliation, the women threw their children off a steep cliff and then they held hands and started singing and dancing, with the steps leading to the cliff where they jumped to their death one by one. Losing their lives and winning immortality.

The incident soon became infamous across Europe, with the Dance of Zalongo becoming a symbol of heroism and self-sacrifice over the years while standing as one of the most dramatic pages in Greece’s history.

So, here weary traveler, rest your wand. An archive of legends and tales are being unfolded before your very eyes.

Stories of defiance and bravery. Stories of love for one’s homeland. Stories of Souli.