Constantine Palaiologos

On the initiative of the Municipality of Athens, a statue of Constantine XI Palaiologos was placed outside the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens in 1990, the work of the Corfiot sculptor Spiros Goggakis. It is a larger than life-size brass statue (2.5 metres high) that depicts the last Byzantine Emperor in an upright position, dressed like a warrior and holding a sword in his right hand. On the marble wall directly behind the statue is engraved the famous answer which, according to tradition, Constantine Palaiologos gave to the ultimatum of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II The Conqueror, concerning the surrender of Constantinople: “As to surrendering the city to you, it is not for me to decide or for anyone else of its citizens; for all of us have reached the mutual decision to die of our own free will, without any regard for our lives”, in Greek. This statue is a copy of a similar work by the artist, which is in Mystras.