#28 Evzones Greek Presidential Guard Change in front of tomb of Unknown Soldier Monument in Athens

Athens amid the Corona virus (Covid19) outbreak. It's mid day and there are no people watching the change of the guards. The Greek government announced that retail shops will shut down (18 March 2020), with the exception of their e-services and related at-home delivery divisions.
Change of guards in Athens takes place every hour in the day. On Sundays, the official ceremony takes place at 11am. The Evzones is a special unit of the Hellenic Army, also known as Tsoliades, who guard the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. Through the historical movement of Greece, the Evzones have become symbols of bravery and courage for the Greek people. The Presidential Guard, as the unit is now called, was constituted in 1868 and has taken many names through centuries (Guard of the Flag, Royal Guard, etc).
The duties of the soldiers are part of a ceremonial nature. Every soldier guards for about an hour, 3 times in total every 48 hours. Throughout these 60 minutes, they have to stand perfectly still until it is time to switch with another guard. During the changing, they work in pairs so they can perfectly coordinate their moves. The steps that the official ceremony requires at the time of changing are carried out in really slow motion to protect their blood circulation after 60 min of immobility.
The soldiers of the Presidential Guard are selected according to their height, excellent physical condition, and psychological state as well as character and morality, as they follow a hard training before they become part of this honorary unit. The training lasts for one month and includes exercises to keep the body and mind still. Apart from staying still, the soldiers must also not make any face or eye move and must not show any expression.
Their uniform of the Presidential Guard has a historical meaning. It refers to the uniform of the Kleftes and Armatoloi, two groups of Greek warriors during the War of Independence in (1821) against the Ottomans. In fact, the white skirt of the uniform has 400 folds to represent the 400 years of Ottoman occupation over the Greeks.
The uniform consists of:
- the phareon which is the Evzone's hat, made from red baize with a black tuft
- the white shirt with loose leaves
- the phermeli, which is the waistcoat and it is the most difficult part to construct, handmade with many shapes wrought on it
- the Greek kilt (or else foustanella), its structure requires 30 meters of white cloth
- the tsarouchia, the traditional shoes of Evzones which are red, made of leather, with a small tuft in front. Each shoe weighs three kilos
- the fringes, blue and white standing for the Greek flag
- the garters which are made of silk
- the leather belt
- the inside garnet
-and the gun which is the most difficult piece to carry, not only for its gravity but also for the physical pressure that exerts to the soldier's body.
This is the official version of the uniform that the Evzones wear only on Sundays and National holidays. The other days, the white shirt, the phermeli and the Greek kilt are replaced by the doulamas, a special uniform that the soldiers of the Macedonian Struggle (1904-1908) used to wear. This uniform is blue in winter and brown in summer. In official ceremonies, the Evzones also wear the traditional uniforms of Crete and Pontus, as recognition of the contribution of these regions in the national fights.
Location: Tomb of Unknown Soldier, Athens, Greece
Filmed: Mar 2020
#Evzones #Ευζωνες #Athens #UnknownSoldier
Connect at
Earth Sound Walks: www.earthsoundwalks.com
Instagram: / earthsoundwalks
Subscribe: bit.ly/2tqakdd
Athens Photography Tour (10days) www.athensphototour.com/greec...
Athens Photo Shoot www.athensphototour.com/athen...
All material in this video is original and personally recorded by myself on location. Copyright © 2020 Earth Sound Walks. All Rights Reserved. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.

[@EarthSoundWalks]

Stay safe everyone! Like and subscribe to see more videos

[@shaynewheeler9249]

Greece Zeus

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

the hard stomping down with their hobnailed boots is to waken the fallen dead so they know Greece is free

[@rafaellagaribaldi9391]

Via Ted Guarino As one person put it, anyone calling these Evzones Clowns, should remember the evzone battalions are probably one of the worlds best Mountain fighting battalion units. These Evzone units kicked the Italians back into Albania during WWII until Benito needed to call in his buddy the Wall paper hanger, and the Ottoman Turks back into Asia.

[@mrs.verenae.30]

ChYes chyes... of course they are 🤣

[@adrianmunteanu8135]

Respect from Romania 🇷🇴 Love 🇬🇷 Grecee, Elada

[@SklhroiKariolidesThsIstorias]

Επαγγελματίας γρήγορος και με φοβερά πλάνα 11/10

[@waldopepper1]

What a wonderful way to honor the fallen.

[@patrickflynn6423]

I have seen the soldiers changing the guard many times in Athens and it is a great thing to see even though it might seem different some times it means a lot to the Greek people and I hope to see it again soon , Greece is a wonderful country and the people are I think the most welcoming ,Zeto H Hellas

[@DAREALCOSMO]

Soldiers? Where?

[@user-mp2rm8et9m]

Άνοιξε τα στραβά σου να δεις

[@charisma-hornum-fries]

As long as you or everyone else don't clap. It's cool.

[@dimz796]

@@DAREALCOSMO The guards are usually army conscripts.

[@JuanLopez-kq4et]

I love Greece. I will go back and visit more wonderful places !!!

[@EarthSoundWalks]

Have fun!

[@olindodragoti]

Did you know that these are traditional costumes stolen by the Greeks from the Albanian fighters who liberated Greece?

[@lagrece]

@@olindodragoti Foustanella contains 400 pietes which sympolize 400 years of Turkish occupation . Albanias were allies with Turks and according with research they had the same clothes with them. Also, foustanella has greek letters on it to show the origin and the religion . Furthermore , according to historians foustanella is the evolution of ancient greek mandias.Greeks wear foustanella a lot before 1821 P.S. King Otti said that he is going ti wear Foustanella in order to show his respect to the Greeks ,as foustanella is a traditional greek costume The Albanian propaganda should stop As an italian historian said Albanians should stop calling everything albanian

[@mysticgrandly]

@@olindodragoti you just had to say something stupid didn't you?

[@stefamvro5868]

Informations, from a Greek..: Homer ( The far ancient, Greek poet, who wrote Odyssey and Iliad, many thousands of years, before us..), is the first who spoke about Ev-zones. The word Ev-zones, means "the ancient fighter, who is so good and experienced, that the only thing he needed, was a belt, made from good quality, not easy to broke, and with practical positions for his arms ( sword, etc ). The second man who spoke about Evzones, was Herodotus ( the Greek "father of History", the first who puts the bases of international historical writing ), at the known ancient-classical times of Greece. Nowdays, in order to honer, our ancient history and our fighters ancestors, the Tomb of Unknown Soldier, shows an ancient fighter, and the guards, are Evzones.. Uniform of Evzones..: Their hat is red, and shows the blood that we gave, for our freedom.. The black "strings" of the hat, are our tears for our dead, who gave their blood.. In general, the uniform is white, because our cause of fight ( freedom and justice ), is noble and "pure". Ancient Greeks, were mostly wearing the "chlamys". The "skirt", ( which we call it Foustanella ), is the nowdays "chlamys", showing that our history continuous.. Foustanella, is the "next generation" of chlamys, and we made Foustanella, at the times of Greek Byzantine Empire. And it was very practical, because our fighters, were fighting at the wild mountains, and couldnt have organized hospital etc. So with Foustanella, which was easy to be made, they could take care they wounds very easy, than with trousers. Also Foustanella was warm at winter, and cold at summer. And Foustanella, was a psycological weapon also.. because when the barbarians were threating us, it was more easy for us, to show them our balls.. so they knew, that we are fearless.. The Foustanella, have 400 edges, showing the 400 years, of occupasion of the Ottomans (400 years, of torturing.. slaughtering.. etc.. ). Shoes, are made of hard leather, with big nails, under them. The nails were very important for the fighters, because the land of Greece is full of mountains, and rocky places, and the fighters needed to defend themselves, or attack, on "bad" terrain. The black "fluffy" thing, at the front of the shoes, hides inside, a small knife, showing that, in order to fight for your freedom, you must fight with everything you have ( hands and feet ), and with arms that the enemy cant see.. And the guards, keep their feet high, to show how they were stabbing the barbarians.. Nowdays, when the guards walking, they hit hard their feet to the ground, so our ancestors can hear the nails, and they know that Greeks are still here.. alive.. and free.. Unfortunately, there are some people, who dont know, and they dont ask, about this "funny skirt ", and they only laughing at this uniform. ( Some of them knows, like Albanians and Turks, but they were-are allies against Greeks, so they dont count..) They must know, that this is an ancient fighters uniform, and these fighters were fought against Barbarians, countless of times, and if they can laugh, is because these fighters, kept them free of barbarism.. If they can look in a mirror, and can say that they are humans, and not Barbarians, is because of these Greek fighters, with THIS uniform.. And we deserve and demand, from all, to respect the blood that we gave.. for freedom and justice, against Barbarians, through thousands of years.. And an extra information..: At the very old times, when the ancient Greeks, travelled all around this planet, and named many places, they found an island, very beautiful, but foggy. They called this island "land of Skot-os".. In Greek means, the land without sun. Nowdays, this island is called Scot-land.. The national uniform, of the great Scottish nation, is kilt.. Kilt and foustanella, seems to have the same ancestor.. the chlamys..

[@jgala3350]

Very good detailful analysis. Thank you!

[@EllenBrighton]

Thank you.

[@ixopo6715]

Thank you. I find this Guard change absolutely fascinating, poetic to watch and realise how difficult these coordinated moves are. I would love to visit and see this for myself. 🇬🇧🇬🇧

[@AmbientWalking]

What a simple, calm and collected way of seeing the world. I have so much love for this journey. Thank you for taking me with you. : )

[@EarthSoundWalks]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@shaynewheeler9249]

😢😢😢😢

[@ohwellyeahgoddiedalongtime8964]

Their coordination and timing is incredible

[@Hamster-py2lf]

There is something so amazing about so much culture, identity, and history being packed into a simple change of a guard.

[@CityWalks]

Very cool performance and tradition. Well filmed too. Would love to see this person someday. -Henry

[@EarthSoundWalks]

Hello Henry, thank you, hopefully one day you can visit. Stay safe!

[@themandalorian2531]

I saw it in person it was so hot that day

[@olindodragoti]

Did you know that these are traditional costumes stolen by the Greeks from the Albanian fighters who liberated Greece?

[@lagrece]

@@olindodragoti Foustanella contains 400 pietes which sympolize 400 years of Turkish occupation . Albanias were allies with Turks and according with research they had the same clothes with them. Also, foustanella has greek letters on it to show the origin and the religion . Furthermore , according to historians foustanella is the evolution of ancient greek mandias.Greeks wear foustanella a lot before 1821 P.S. King Otti said that he is going ti wear Foustanella in order to show his respect to the Greeks ,as foustanella is a traditional greek costume Albanians were allies with Turks and they fought against Greeks. Even the Turks confirm that The Albanian propaganda should stop As an italian historian said Albanians should stop calling everything albanian

[@dimitrisd.3784]

Honor and glory to our finest lads.

[@bill4all782]

This march feels like a prayer, glory to the most high.

[@alexanderthegreek6751]

What an honor it would be to do this.. 🇬🇷

[@phamilyg3577]

I witnessed this today in Athens I enjoyed the experience and will be back to see it again

[@MrpizzaDrip]

I'm greek,I was there litterally last Monday...it was amazing,I even went inside and yes I did see the tomb of the unknown soldier 10/10 expirience I recommend

[@buddacafe]

Some of you guys watch this and think its ridiculous. But their traditions date back far before your ancestors every existed. These people are very ancient.

[@TalismanInsights-sc9kp]

The Evzones troops were the most elite warriors of the Greek Army from the Greek Revolution(1821) to WW1(1922). The name is "ευ" which in greek means well and "ζώνες" which in greek means belt. It literally means well armed .The last time they marched to battle Ottomans were kicked off the Balkans. Today they serve as the presidential guard and they guard the monument (tomb) of the unknown greek soldier that throughout our history and all wars died for our country. The monument is exactly under the Greek parliament and it has a great symbolism that our democracy lies on our dead heroes as its foundation. The idea of the monument can be found on the epitaph speech that Pericles gave during the Peloponnesian War which the Athenians lost to Spartans. In that speech Pericles described the custom of the burial of dead soldiers in ancient Athens. He says "Μια κλίνη κενή φέρεται των αφανών" which means "One coffin is empty for those that were never found" so this monument is the empty tomb of the unknown soldier.

[@walkinginthenorth7216]

Thank you for sharing this. Stay safe my friend!

[@EarthSoundWalks]

You too friend 😉

[@olindodragoti]

Did you know that these are traditional costumes stolen by the greeks from the Albanian fighters who liberated Greece?

[@lagrece]

@@olindodragoti Foustanella contains 400 pietes which sympolize 400 years of Turkish occupation . Albanias were allies with Turks and according with research they had the same clothes with them. Also, foustanella has greek letters on it to show the origin and the religion . Furthermore , according to historians foustanella is the evolution of ancient greek mandias.Greeks wear foustanella a lot before 1821 P.S. King Otti said that he is going ti wear Foustanella in order to show his respect to the Greeks ,as foustanella is a traditional greek costume The Albanian propaganda should stop Albanias were allies with Turks ,so they fought against Greeks

[@rafaellagaribaldi9391]

I have to say, this evzone guard dress almost resembles the dress worn by men of Tudor England. what the evzones are wearing is if you look at it closely, is almost medieval. Evzones are wearing hose which was common for men in Rennaisance and Medieval times, and the fustanella is just an extension of the tunic. Just have a look at the way men dressed in Tudor England or rennaisance Italy, Its almost the same. That indicates that the clothing of the Evzones has roots in Medieval Europe (Byzantium).

[@spartanlion2819]

The costume of the Evzones comes from the time of the Ottoman occupation of Greece. Greeks wore the dress to honour their Byzantine and ancient Greek heritage opposed to the trousers-wearing Ottomans. Every Greek freedom fighter in the independence war of 1821-31 was dressed like this.

[@thomaskourkoulis8527]

It's a uniform with ancient heritage. In fact, the Tudors got their dressing styles from the Roman and byzantine empires

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

@@thomaskourkoulis8527 This evzone dress code of the presidential guard is of the army battalions of the mid 19th century, they should be abolished and replaced with the longer fustanellas (Kilts) worn by the officers and the fighters of 1821 kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJ2oqHaFbayisJY

[@TartarusPyro]

the evzones clothes are Chiton (garment) byzantines hellenes also continue to use Chiton (garment)

[@chm5750]

@@spartanlion2819Yes, however, the fustsnepla was longer.

[@can_i_get_a_zaiyaaa]

Γεια σου μωρη ελλαδαρα!

[@orozcoaj69]

I saw this the first time over a year ago, I am in love with one of the military guys 🤭🙈😍

[@sachpatzidis]

Ελλαδαρα μου !!

[@RajKumar-kf3yz]

Changing time pales

[@nikosnikos1]

I am Greek, and love the ceremony, except the "maintenance soldiers" who have no protocol about themselves. Casual salutes, back slouching, head drooping down and eyes staring at ground while walking, casual stances when "attention", with one hand on hip while one knee slight bent... and combat fatigues as their wear of uniform. Keep the maintenance soldiers only as out of side observers for protection... and replace them publically with a senior evzone to attend and correct and fix his subordinates' appearance.

[@M4lh]

1:21 Was there a Korean tourist, suddenly I can hear Korean...

[@EarthSoundWalks]

Good hearing! I really can't remember now, i think there were few people that day

[@telosfd]

On the right side of the wall, there are names of many places that Greeks fought during 2WW. Between others you can read also at the end, the name of KOREA (ΚΟΡΕΑ) in Greek.

[@olindodragoti]

Did you know that these are traditional costumes stolen by the greeks from the Albanian fighters who liberated Greece?

[@lagrece]

@@olindodragoti Foustanella contains 400 pietes which sympolize 400 years of Turkish occupation . Albanias were allies with Turks and according with research they had the same clothes with them. Also, foustanella has greek letters on it to show the origin and the religion . Furthermore , according to historians foustanella is the evolution of ancient greek mandias.Greeks wear foustanella a lot before 1821 P.S. King Otti said that he is going ti wear Foustanella in order to show his respect to the Greeks ,as foustanella is a traditional greek costume The Albanian propaganda should stop

[@lagrece]

@@olindodragoti Albanians were allies with Turks and they fought against Greeks. Even the Turks confirm that .

[@Zoe-dp5qt]

🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

[@myairspace3xx]

Don't know how you could fight in those shoes.

[@rafaellagaribaldi9391]

Hmmm..............When the scots fought the English what shoes did the Scots wear??

[@stenik055]

In these shoes the Greeks hid blades on the front of the shoe for the battle

[@cantonatheking]

Ask the Italians in WWII they can give you a proper response

[@stenik055]

@@cantonatheking Greece Wore this uniform in the revolution war 1821. Not in WW2

[@cantonatheking]

@@stenik055 you are right sry

[@roverman985]

U bet they go thru shoe bottoms very fast.

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

No, they are hobnailed boots with I think 100 hobnails

[@olindodragoti]

Did you know that these are traditional costumes stolen by the greeks from the Albanian fighters who liberated Greece?

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

@@olindodragoti What on earth are you talking about?? Don't make such ridiculous comments please.

[@olindodragoti]

@@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse Read to learn the truth

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

@@olindodragoti I don't need to learn the truth, I KNOW the truth. But I see YOU have a problem with the truth.

[@bartsimpson9341]

I could never be there to watch Ewoks sneaking, I would laugh too loud😂

[@JesusMagicPanties]

Seems like the ministry of silly walks.

[@rafaellagaribaldi9391]

What the hell are you talking about??

[@furkanbasbug4217]

İt's so funny 😂😂😂

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

why?

[@furkanbasbug4217]

@@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse because funny. is there a reason

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

@@furkanbasbug4217 Why is it funny?? I can't see the humour in it

[@furkanbasbug4217]

@@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse because they look like cheerleader gays wearing skirts

[@JapanMonAmourTheJapanHouse]

@@furkanbasbug4217 You should learn something about European culture and dress then , Its NOT a skirt, its a fustanella. Scots also have something similar and its called a Kilt, as do the Welsh where its called a Cilt. The Fustanella or Kilt/Cilt was worn by Highland folk because its suited to the highlands whether its Scotland or the Balkans.

[@olindodragoti]

The traditional Albanian dress was stolen by the greeks at the time of the creation of the state after the revolution of 1821 and this was done at the request of King Otto !

[@rafaellagaribaldi2729]

@dragot Find another channel to troll on

[@lagrece]

Foustanella contains 400 pietes which sympolize 400 years of Turkish occupation . Albanias were allies with Turks and according with research they had the same clothes with them. Also, foustanella has greek letters on it to show the origin and the religion . Furthermore , according to historians foustanella is the evolution of ancient greek mandias.Greeks wear foustanella a lot before 1821 P.S. King Otti said that he is going ti wear Foustanella in order to show his respect to the Greeks ,as foustanella is a traditional greek costume The Albanian propaganda should stop

[@miltonjmj]

Ho no, now the traditional Albanians are naked.

[@MrHarr0073]

why do you feel the need to effing troll? Mention your piece under 1 comment and move on. Your receptiveness shows a lack of respect and character to those who read and post. Additionally, your actions are about this close to desecrating the honor of this memorial. Seems you have little regard for those who have done something you clearly haven't done: died to protect your country.

[@kostastz8395]

Het life and history poor bastard

[@cristobalstark6929]

They should change that japanese schoolgirl dress, really

[@marcusaurelius8918]

MONTY PYTHON AND THEIR SILLY MARCHS

[@rafaellagaribaldi9391]

One should remember these evzone battalions are probably one of the worlds best Mountain fighting battalion units. These Evzone units kicked the Italians back into Albania during WWII until Benito needed to call in his buddy Adolf for help, and the Ottoman Turks back into Asia in the Balkan wars

[@user-mp2rm8et9m]

Ο γνωστός κομπλεξηκος ανθελληνας

[@spartanlion2819]

​@@user-mp2rm8et9m μπα. Μάλλον Ιταλός είναι. Θα έχασε κανα παππού στην Πίνδο ο μαλάκας.