House of Ioannis Metaxas (Ochi House)

At dawn on October 28th, 1940, while World War II was raging, the Italian Ambassador to Greece, Emanuele Grazzi, visited Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas at his home. According to Grazzi, Greece was favouring Great Britain, despite the neutral stance it had pledged to maintain. In addition, the Ambassador handed Metaxas an ultimatum informing him that Italy was requesting the unhindered passage of its troops through Greek territory and the occupation of strategic positions within Greek territory, otherwise war would be declared. The Greek Prime Minister studied the text and, without consulting with the Government or the King, he addressed the Italian Ambassador and replied in French, the language of diplomacy in which their conversation was carried out, “alors, c'est la guerre”, i.e. “well then, there will be a war”. Metaxas response and the refusal of the Italian ultimatum, which signalled the participation of Greece in World War II, went down in history as “Ochi” (which means “No”) Day. The historic residence of Ioannis Metaxas, in which the above event took place, remains to this day a symbol of the Greek fighting spirit and the will to defend the ideals of freedom, honour and national sovereignty.