by Romfea.news
On June 24, 2019, it’s been 221 years since the martyrdom of Greek National Hero Rigas Feraios Velestinlis and his comrades, including the Chians, Efstratios Argentis and Antonis Koronios, who suffered tremendous tortures in 1798 in Belgrade’s Tower of Nebojsa and were eventually strangled by their Ottoman captors on the Danube River en route to Constantinople to prevent their rescue.
The Municipality of Chios honors their heroism with a series of events. On Saturday, June 22, a memorial service was held at New-martyr Andrew Argenti of Chios.
There followed an honorable event at the reading room of the Public Central Historical Library “Korais” of Chios.
During the memorial Service, Metropolitan Markos of Chios referred to the neighbors from the East: “Contrary to the will of God and unconvincingly, our eastern neighbors are trying to appropriate seas that never belonged to them; we, as descendants of Rigas and his companions and of Psara, we are obliged to preserve and guard these marine borders, because God has granted an identity to these sea waves and this holy land”.