Philhellenes who fought in the Greek War of Independence will be honored by a museum that will open its doors soon in Greece, in celebration of the bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence, according to greekreporter.com.
The new “Museum of Philhellenism,” which will record the evolution of the entire Philhellenic movement across the world in the times of the Greek Revolution will open its doors in less than a month, in early March.
The announcement was made by Attica Regional Governor George Patoulis and the representative of the Society for Hellenism and Philhellenism (EEF), Konstantinos Velentzas.
The new museum will feature over 2,000 works of art and items from the collection of Konstantinos Velentzas which have been inaccessible to the general public up until now.
The exhibits include paintings of the Greek War of Independence by European painters of the early nineteenth century, as well as bronze, porcelain, fabric, wood and paper artifacts, weapons from the War, more than 250 first-edition philhellenic books, scores of philhellenic music, and letters written by Greek fighters and philhellenes.
Among the vast collection, there will be some personal belongings of Lord Byron, the beloved British romantic poet who died in Greece in 1824 after fighting for the liberation of Greece from the Ottoman Empire.
Philhellenism prior to the Greek Revolution
Hundreds of foreign volunteers came to the aid of the Greek people who thirsted for freedom after almost 400 years of Ottoman rule. They became brothers in arms in the eyes of the fighting Greeks, and heroes to those who were eventually liberated.
Liberal-minded, educated, and prosperous middle and upper-class Europeans had a romantic notion of Ancient Greece, its philosophy, its art and architecture, and the ideal democratic state that Athens had been long ago.
In this heady atmosphere, the Greek uprising in 1821 constituted a source of inspiration and awoke many romantic expectations in the hearts of many in the West.
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