1828 – Arrival in Greece

Aegina had joined the Greek revolution during its first weeks. A whole new suburb was created in the city when refugees from the island of Psara sought shelter there following the terrible destruction wrought by the Ottomans. Ioannis Capodistrias disembarked in Aegina in early January 1828, to take the oath of office as governor in the island’s cathedral and to lay the foundations of the new Greek State.

‘Hymn to Freedom’ is a poem by Dionysios Solomos (1798-1857) written in 1823 and set to music by Nikolaos Chalikiopoulos Mantzaros (1795-1872) in 1828. It was adopted as the national anthem in Greece in 1865 and in Cyprus in 1966.