The Greek is by nature a Democrat and a Free man. .His neck cannot bear a yoke and he cannot live as a slave. The first free Greek state after the rebirth of 1821 had Thessaly as its northern border. Territories outside the Greek territory such as Thessaly, Macedonia, Thrace, etc. were groaning under the slavery of the Turkish conqueror. The inhabitants of these very Greek lands suffered and lived with the desire and hope of freedom. They lived, they hopedε and waitedε...
During the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878), Russian forces occupied Adrianople. The Greek government, under pressure from public opinion, sent Lieutenant General Skarlatos Soutsos with a force of 20.000 men to invade Greek territories held by the Turks.
The inhabitants of Macedonia, Epirus and Thessaly see their hopes taking shape. They hope that freedom will return to their blood-stained lands. The long-awaited time has not yet arrived. The Greek forces are returning to the free Greek territories with the claim of the Europeans.
The Russians and the Turks were led to a truce and on February 20, 1878, the Treaty of Saint Stephen was signed. This treaty took Greek territories from the defeated Turkey and ceded them to Bulgaria, thus forming a Greater Bulgaria.
In January 1878, an Independent Macedonian Struggle Committee was formed and, on the occasion of this treaty, it decided to organize a revolutionary movement and strengthen revolutionary movements observed in the areas of Olympus, Pieria and elsewhere.
The head of the expeditionary force is the captain of the Greek army Doumbiotis Kosmas, a Macedonian originally from Chalkidiki. Doumbiotis' soldiers were mainly volunteers from Macedonia. On the night of 15 to 16 February 1878, they disembarked at Plaka Litochoro. The volunteer fighters are received with enthusiasm by the residents of Litochoro and the surrounding villages. The ammunition is stored in the Metochi of the monastery of Agios Dionysios. Litochoro is designated as the seat of the headquarters and the temporary revolutionary government of Olympus. The president of the revolutionary government is the doctor Evangelos Korovagos and the secretary is the bishop of Kitrous Nikolaos Lousis, with the seat of his diocese in Kolindros.
One of the first actions of the government is the issuance of a proclamation to the governments of the European powers informing them of the overthrow of Turkish rule., and the declaration of union with mother Greece. It also demonstrates the decision of the Macedonians to fight for freedom and at the same time they ask for protection for their just struggle.
Doumbiotis' expeditionary force moved to inspire the inhabitants of the other villages as well. Doumbiotis and his officers did not occupy Katerini, where many Turks lived, having been misled by the Turkish landowner Nikolaos Bitzios, representative of the inhabitants of the city. The fact that they did not attack Kateriniς gave the Turks of Thessaloniki time to prepare and with strong military force to crush the revolution.
In Kolindros, Bishop Nikolaos Lousis declared the revolution on February 22, 1878, at the position of "Founta". The Turks could easily attack this position and for this reason he estimated that he would not be able to hold it.,. He sets fire to and burns the Episcopal building on the night of 25 to 26 February so that it does not fall into the hands of the Turks. The next day he leads the women and children of the surrounding villages and of Kolindros to the monastery of Agioi Pantos (located near Vergina). The Turks sent Asaf Pasha to suppress the revolution. He occupies Kolindros, reaches Katerini unmolested and after moving further south he sets fire to and plunders Litochoros.
After Asaf Pasha plundered Litochoro, he marched towards the monastery of All Saints.There, where the Kolindros rebels and the women and children of the area had taken refuge. The few male fighters fight heroically but cannot stop the Turkish revenge. Women and children are captured and after being "looted" they are set free to return to their villages.
In the shelter of the Holy Monastery of All Saints, where more than two thousand women and children gathered, the heroic epilogue of the revolution was written with an act that refers to the eternal Zaloggos. Seven Vlach women herders from Seli Vermiou, in order not to fall into the hands of the Turks and suffer the well-known "atrocities", fall off a cliff near the monastery of All Saints.
With the occupation of the Monastery of All Saints, the Olympus Revolution ends. Greek blood was shed, the seed and hope were sown. The flame of Freedom was not extinguished among the residents of the region. On the military field, the battle was lost but the war was not. The blood of the rebels of Olympus (Litochoro and Kolindro) was not wasted. We have success in the diplomatic field.
This struggle gave the right and the weapons to claim its national rights and the liberation of Greek enslaved regions. In August of the same year, the Berlin Congress abolished the Treaty of St. Stephen and imposed the union with mother Greece of Thessaly and part of Epirus. The gain of this revolution is the proof that the desire for Freedom in the Greek is deeply rooted in his heart and in his DNA. A desire that does not sleep. Eternal. Let friends and enemies not forget it. It is only right, then, that Pieria, with the Municipalities of Dion-Olympus (Litochoro) and Pydna-Kolindrou as protagonists, organize every year festive events in memory and honor of the heroic revolutionaries of 1878 with the presence of government officials, sometimes even Presidents of the Republic, with eulogies, parades and universal participation of their residents. Two Sundays in February, one for each Municipality, the heart of Freedom beats in Pieria.
Photo By E.asphyx – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13089913, https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9B
