The Missolonghi Garden of Heroes has earned the distinction of being inducted in the European Route of Historic Gardens.
Missolonghi Mayor Spyros Diamantopoulos said in speaking with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency:
“The sacred city of Missolonghi has opened a new chapter of international extroversion. The inclusion of the Garden of Heroes in the European Route of Historic Gardens gives us the opportunity to highlight a place of sacrifice and historical memory through modern cultural actions, educational programs and international collaborations that look to the future.”
The inclusion of the Garden of Heroes in such an important European route is an honor but also a responsibility, and is the result of cooperation and strategic commitment.”
For his part, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Museums Dimitris Petropoulos also commented, saying that:
“The European Route of Historic Gardens is under the auspices of the Council of Europe and constitutes a pan-European group of gardens of high cultural value, while its goal is to highlight the relationship between landscape, history and art, as well as create a network of cooperation and joint actions.”
The deputy mayor added that the garden “did not simply recount events, but sealed them with blood, ashes and memory.”
“Among the royal and botanical gardens of Europe, the Garden of Heroes contributes a unique character,” he explained. “It is a landscape of testimony. It was not created to move; it moves because it preserves the indelible trace of sacrifice…a battlefield, where the last moments of the great siege and the Exodus unfolded.”
The Missolonghi garden is a cemetery
According to Petropoulos, the historical garden is essentially:
“. . . a cemetery, with the graves of the city’s defenders. It is an open-air museum, with rare monuments and sculptures, and it is a place of collective memory, dedicated not only to the Greeks, but also to the European and American philhellenes who rest there. This cemetery of the universal struggle for freedom is not only an artistic document. It is a carrier of meaning, a witness to a common global memory that was born through transcendence.”
The Deputy Mayor specified that the site attracts visitors from Europe and beyond. “At the same time, it ensures access to European financial tools, contributes to upgrading the level of maintenance and security, strengthens the educational dimension of the area and facilitates cooperation with corresponding institutions abroad and the undertaking of joint cultural initiatives,” he explained.
Petropoulos concluded, saying that:
“The inclusion of the Garden of Heroes in the European Route of Historic Gardens adds prestige to the sacred city of Missolonghi and at the same time enriches the route itself, highlighting a historical space where collective European memory gains depth through an authentic Greek narrative.”