Greece commemorated the Day of the Macedonian Struggle on Sunday in the northern village of Melas, formerly known as Sta...

Greece commemorated the Day of the Macedonian Struggle on Sunday in the northern village of Melas, formerly known as Statista, in Kastoria. The ceremony marked 122 years since Pavlos Melas was killed there, the Greek army officer who became one of the most iconic figures of the armed Greek resistance to Ottoman and Bulgarian control of Macedonia in the early 1900s. Metropolitan Kallinikos of Kastoria led the Divine Liturgy at the Church of Agios Efstathios, followed by a memorial service honoring Melas, his family, and every fighter who died for Macedonia's freedom. Wreaths were laid at the monument in the village square, including one placed by a sixth-grade pupil from the primary school of Neos Oikismos Korestion, who also recited a poem in Melas's honor. Senior officials attended from across the country. Among them were Army Chief Lt. Gen. Georgios Kostidis, Western Macedonia Governor Giorgos Amanatidis, Kastoria Mayor Ioannis Korentsidis, Kastoria MP Maria Antoniou, and a representative of the Deputy Minister, Eleni Doundoulaki. The choir "Melodiki Symfonia," directed by Natalia Serova, performed during the ceremony. After the formal events, attendees visited the Pavlos Melas Museum, the house where he was killed in 1904, and his cenotaph. Melas was shot by Ottoman forces at just 36 years old while leading irregular Greek fighters in Macedonia. His death turned him into a symbol of Greek sacrifice during the Macedonian Struggle, the guerrilla campaign that shaped which parts of northern Greece remained Greek after the Balkan Wars. The village itself was renamed Melas in his honor, a name it still carries today. #MacedonianStruggle #PavlosMelas #Greece