Memorial to the Fallen Members of the Sacred Band

The Company of Chosen Immortals was formed in August 1942, in Kafriona, Palestine, by Greek Army soldiers and officers who had fled to the Middle East following the occupation of the country by the German troops. Shortly thereafter, its Commander, Infantry Colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes (1897-1970), renamed the corps the “Sacred Band” and sent it to Kabrit, Egypt, to be trained by the British Special Air Service. Having prepared for commando missions, the Sacred Band fought alongside the French in Tunisia and the English in the Libyan Desert, and carried out a series of daring operations in the Aegean, especially in the Dodecanese. The monument to the fallen members of the Sacred Band of Christodoulos Tsigantes that adorns Pedion tou Areos was created by the sculptors Petros Moraitis and Konstantinos Palaiologos. It is a stepped marble stele with multiple inscriptions, framed by marble pilasters and brass relief decorative details, such as the emblem of the Sacred Band. The largest inscriptions refer to the Sacred Band with the dates “1942-1945” and to Colonel Christodoulos Tsigantes, while there is also an extensive list of the names, dates and ranks of those who gave their lives for their country.