The Dance of Zalongo is considered to be a monumental act of bravery and defiance against the Ottoman rulers by the women of Epirus, and stands as one of the most dramatic pages in Greece’s history.
By the end of 1803, Epirus ruler Ali Pasha wanted to finish once and for all with the Souliotes; the rebel people of Souli who were creating problems for him and the Sultan. His army besieged Souli and forced them to sign a treaty on December 12. The basic condition of the agreement; which was not observed, was for the Souliotes, along with women and children to evacuate their villages, and they would not be hurt. On December 16, the people of Souli; divided into three phalanxes, left their ancestral land behind.
Two days later, the third phalanx, heading south, was attacked in Zalongo by a large body of Turkish-Albanian soldiers. During the violent fight that ensued, a group of Souliotes was trapped by the enemy. Among them there were about 60 women, some of them pregnant.
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. The incident soon became infamous across Europe, with the Dance of Zalongo becoming a symbol of heroism and self-sacrifice over the years.
Source: Philip Chrysopoulos/greekreporter.com
Read full story here.
RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Ary Scheffer Museum License: CC-BY-SA
