Katerina Sakellaropoulou was declared an Honorary Citizen of Symi

He praised the timeless Greekness of Symi, from the depths of its history until today, and the modern infrastructure projects implemented on the island, with respect for the environment and tradition. the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou during her proclamation as an Honorary Citizen of Symi, in the context of her visit to the island, for the celebration of the 77th anniversary of May 8, 1945, the day of the signing of the protocol of surrender of the troops occupying Dodecanese to the allied forces.

Expressing special emotion that from today he will be a citizen of SymiMrs. Sakellaropoulou thanked from the bottom of her heart for this honor and underlined that the Greekness of Symi is a thread, which starts from a long time ago and reaches unbroken to the present day, a mixture of thought, feeling and vision of the world, created by the landscape, the language, the education, the experience.

He also stressed that facing this place of rare beauty and lively tradition, he is full of optimism, noting the respect shown for the uniqueness of the place, during the implementation of infrastructure projects, such as the port, the marina, the central square of Gialosas well as the care for the environment, on the basis of which others are planned, such as the promotion of electrification, the planning for the transition of Symi to clean energy, the installation of a biological treatment system, the upgrade of the desalination plants.

In particular, during her opposition, Mrs. Sakellaropoulou stated:

“Mr Mayor,

The aesthetic emotion that continues today on your island is associated with the wealth that its long history generates, its presence even in mythology. A place of rare beauty and lively tradition, it took its name from a Nymph, as Diodoros Sikeliotis tells us. Here the Three Graces were born, according to Pausanias, and lived Glafkos, the mythical shipbuilder of Argos. Homeland of Nireas, the most handsome man after Achilles, as Homer writes, Symi sails in the Aegean Sea beautifully, like the Nereids and the Naiads who passed through here. In historical times, part of the territory of Rhodes, member of the first Athenian alliance in the 5th century BC, part of the province of the Islands during the Roman and Byzantine period and later, in the 7th-8th century, under the military and administrative “theme” of the Karavisians, will cross the centuries always Greek and always proud.

Of course, the Arab invasions, which are already plaguing the coastal settlements of the Mediterranean and will peak in the 9th and 10th centuries, will not bypass Symi. Destructions and looting of its beaches are frequent. Later, when the Franks occupy Constantinople in 1204, it will be ceded to the toparch Leontas Gavalas. From 1250 it will meet various conquerors and in 1309 it will be occupied by the Ioannina knights of Rhodes. Then a long period of prosperity will begin, with the development of trade, navigation, sponge fishing and shipbuilding.

And when finally, in 1522, Symi will succumb to Ottoman conqueror, will succeed, thanks to the courage and diplomatic acumen of the Symians, to acquire a kind of community self-government. In 1765, the school of Agia Marina will be founded, one of the most important that Hellenism has to present at this time and from which the students are saved.

In the Revolution of 1821, Symi participated worthily with its ships. However, despite the great effort, it will be under Turkish rule again in 1832, until 1912, when it passes into the hands of the Italians. Occupation is hard, the island is declining, people are hungry, they are leaving their homes, they are migrating. Finally, on May 8, 1945, the Germans will sign here the protocol of surrender of the Dodecanese islands to the allied forces.

We are honoring this high moment today: the end of the war, the recognition of Symi as a place that had played a prominent role in the national liberation struggle during World War IIand the beginning of the process for the reunification of the Dodecanese with Greece on March 7, 1948.

Mr Mayor,

If I mentioned, even briefly, the history of your beautiful island, it was to praise the timeless Greekness of Symi, this thread that starts from a long time ago and reaches unbroken to the present day, a mixture of thought, feeling and vision of the world, created by the landscape, the language, the education, the experience. And now that I am here, between the rocks and the sea, admiring the unique amphitheater of the picturesque neoclassical houses, the imposing series of mills that emerge from the settlement and end at the mouse castle, the colors, the “Greek line” so clearly engraved, I feel special emotion that from today I will also be a citizen of Symi, a passenger of a “durable ship”, to use a beautiful phrase by Odysseus Elytis about island Greece. Seeing, in fact, how much respect for the uniqueness of the place you implement infrastructure projects, such as the port, the marina, the central square of Gyalos, and how much care for the environment you plan others, such as the promotion of electricity, planning for its transition Symi in clean energy, the installation of biological treatment system, the upgrade of desalination, I am full of optimism. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the honor you do me and I wish you to continue your struggle with strength and inspiration “.

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