The Monument of the Liberation Struggle of EOKA 1955-59

THE CENTRAL IDEA AND COMPOSITION OF THE MONUMENT The Monument to the liberation Struggle of EOKA 1955-1959 is situated in a wooded area at the summit of Englisi mountain between the villages of Kato Amiandos and Pelendri in the Pitsilia region where many bloody engagements took place during the period of the EOKA Struggle. It is a multifaceted monumental work dedicat- ed to all those who contributed to the EOKA Struggle: the protagonists, the martyred heroes, the fighters, the victims and the entire Cypriot people, which lent its sup- port for the success of the Struggle. In particular, the Monument is a homage and an expression of gratitude to all those who sacrificed their life in order to pave the way to freedom. By erecting this monument the Greek people of Cyprus has discharged a duty to them, as outlined by the EOKA leader George Grivas Dighenis in a farewell pamphlet before departing from Cyprus following the Zurich – London agreements. He had then written the following: “It grieves me that I have not been allowed to visit the graves of our heroes, and I bow respectfully before the greatness of their sacrifice. Cyprus has a duty, as a show of respect to them and also in order to set an example to future genera- tions, to erect a monument in their honour reaching so high as does their glory and so very tall as to enable them to take in at a glance the whole of Cyprus, and Cyprus in its turn to embrace them; also it must be erected on soil drenched with blood, because this is what a fitting resting place for heroes should be like.” The Council of the Historical Memory of the EOKA Struggle 1955-1959 undertook the implementation of the project immediately after it was established in 1993, assigning the design and supervision of the work to architect Haris Fereos. The central idea of the Monument stemmed from the verses of the last hero of the gallows Evagoras Pallekarides: I shall climb uphill Through winding paths Searching for the stairs That lead to freedom The Monument is composed of various sections, both man-made and natural, which bond together in celebration of the Freedom of Cyprus and of the EOKA Struggle. On a plateau at the top of the mountain are located the Freedom Monument and the chapel of Panagia Eleftherotria - Our Freedom Lady. On a second plateau about one kilometer below the summit one finds the Propylaea, the gateway to the Monument, and the Hall of the Fighters. The Stairs to Freedom are the connecting link between these two basic constitutive parts of the Monument. There are 108 steps in the ladder, as many as the heroes of EOKA who gave their life for the freedom of Cyprus; they have been arranged in groups along an uphill, 650-metre long footpath, which winds itself through a wooded area and con- nects the plateau of the Propylaea with that of the Monument.