On Monday, November 21st 2023, the day of the celebration of the Armed Forces and the Presentation of the Virgin Mary (Patroness of the Armed Forces), festive events take place in Nafplio, as also in Athens, Thessaloniki, and throughout Greece.
November 21st, the day on which the Church honors the "Presentation of the Virgin Mary," has been established to be celebrated as the "Armed Forces Day" as well. This is to honor the contribution of the Greek Armed Forces to the Nation, both in times of war and in peace.
The events for the celebration of the "Armed Forces Day," which will take place in Nafplio on Tuesday, November 21st 2023, are as follows:
Program
General flag-raising ceremony from eight in the morning until sunset on November 21st. Illumination during the evening hours of all public, municipal, and community establishments, legal entities of public law, public benefit organizations, banks, central streets, and squares of Nafplio, as well as moored port ships.
07:00 - Joyful bell ringing in the churches, under the care of the Holy Metropolis of Argolis.
08:00 - Hoisting of the Flag at the Nafplio Heroes' Monument (25th of March Street) by the Honorary Guard of the Nafplio Infrastructure Management Service (Y.D.Y.P. Nafplio), with the participation of the Municipal Philharmonic Orchestra.
10:30 - Liturgy at the Holy Temple of Agios Spyridon, presided over by His Eminence Metropolitan of Argolis, Mr. Nektarios. Delivery of the festive speech of the day by Military Engineer Captain Mr. Ioannis Georgantas.
11:10 - Memorial prayer and the laying of wreaths by representatives of the Government, the Hellenic Parliament, the Armed Forces, the Region of Peloponnese, the Municipality, the National Resistance associations and the Reserve Military organizations, at the Nafplio Heroes' Monument, where a minute of silence will be observed in memory of the glorious dead of the Nation. The ceremony will conclude with the playing of the National Anthem.
17:00 - Lowering of the Flag
Did you know that?
This dual celebration began after the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974. Prior to this period of the April Dictatorship (1967-1974), the Armed Forces were celebrated on August 15th, the day of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. From 1967 and for about seven years, the celebration was renamed the "Day of Military Virtue of the Greeks." The celebration took place every August 29th, the day in 1949 when the last stronghold of the self-proclaimed Democratic Army of Greece fell on Mount Grammos in Northern Greece, marking the end of the bloody Civil War.
