On Wednesday, September 29, 2021, in the courtyard of the historical holy church of Saint Paraskevi of Levadeia, inextricably linked to the liberation of the town by Athanassios Diakos on April 1, 1821, the Holy Metropolitanate of Thebes and Levadeia organised a scholarly conference on the completion of 200 years since the declaration of the Greek Revolution. Most Rev. Metropolitan Symeon of Phthiotis, the host of the event, Most Rev. Metropolitan Gheorghios of Thebes and Levadeia, representatives of the local authorities, the Armed Forces, and inhabitants of the town and the wider area attended. Greek academics presented papers on, among other subjects, the pedagogical lessons from the Revolution of 1821, the conflict between the newly founded modern Greek state and Hellenism, the “Society of Friends”, and the contribution of the areas of Central Greece and Livadeia to the Struggle of the National Uprise of 1821.
In his address Most Rev. Metropolitan Gheorghios referred to the part played by the Church in the Revolution of 1821, and specifically to how “the Church not only was the great and prime provider and blood donor of the holy struggle of our nation but proved to be its very soul. The Church did not merely help the Revolution. It inspired it and gave birth to it. It is Its own child. Beyond the material aid recorded in documents of the time, even above blood sacrifices, the Church offered something higher and greater: the spiritual foundation and the moral vindication of the fight for the holy faith in Christ and the freedom of the fatherland”.
He also thanked the neighbouring brother Metropolitan Symeon of Phthiotis for attending the event, the local Mayor and all those who contributed to the organisation of the event, which ended with traditional songs by a choir of pupils of the Music School of Levadeia. The event was coordinated by Very Rev. Archimandrite Father Alexios Samartzis, Parish Head of the holy pilgrimage church of Saint Rheginos of Levadeia.
