The festive events for the celebration of St. Demetrius, the liberation of the city of Thessaloniki and the anniversary of the Ohi Day, began with the procession of St. Demetrius’ and Panagia Sumela’s icons in Thessaloniki.
Also in the procession were the sacred relics of St. Demetrius, patron saint of Thessaloniki, as well as the icon of St. George Peristereotas.
The icons and the relics were transported by military vehicles, while the procession, accompanied by representatives of the clergy, the Police band and contingents of the Army and the Navy, followed the route from Agiou Dimitriou Street, to Venizelou St., Olympou Str. and Peloponnisou Str. and ended to the church of the patron saint of Thessaloniki.
In addition, students from the Experimental School of the University of Thessaloniki participated in the ritual.
Earlier, a Divine Liturgy was celebrated, and lectures were held in schools in the morning.
President Pavlopoulos to attend three-day festivities for Oct. 28 national holiday in Thessaloniki
President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopios Pavlopoulos will be in Thessaloniki for the next three days, October 26-28.
The events will culminate with a grand military parade for Oxi Day (pronounced Ohi) that starts at 11:00 on Monday morning, which commemorates Greece’s refusal to capitulate to the Axis forces in 1940 and its victory against Italy on the Albanian front.
According to ANA-MPA, the President will start by attending an official mass at the Agios Demetrios Church on Saturday at 11:00, which will also be attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, former premier Costas Karamanlis, party representatives and the leadership of the Armed Forces.
He will then attend the opening of two exhibitions, one at the Macedonia-Thrace Ministry and a second at the Thessaloniki City Hall.
At 13:30 on Saturday, Pavlopoulos will address a dinner given in his honour by the commander of the 3rd Army Corps, Lieutenant General Konstantinos Koutras, at the Officers’ Mess.
At 17:15 he scheduled to visit a Down’s Syndrome Association and at 18:30 he will attend a ceremony at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) Hall of Ceremonies, followed by a visit to the Macedonian Struggle Museum at 20:00.
The president’s day on Sunday will begin with a visit to the Destroyer “Velos” D-16 museum ship, at 9:20 in the morning. This will be followed by engagements at the Thessaloniki indoor sports stadium (XANTh), the 424 military hospital and the AUTH Museum of Natural History. At 13:30, he is to attend the inauguration of a new wing of the Jewish Museum.
At 18:00 on Saturday, Pavlopoulos will visit the Teloglion Foundation of Arts and at 19:30 he will go to the Macedonian Studies Society for an event celebrating its 80th year, where its chairman Vassilis Pappas will present the Greek president with the society’s gold medal. The event will also be addressed by former premier Karamanlis.