Themistocles

In the mid-1960s, following a commission from the scholar and writer Ioannis Meletopoulos, the sculptor Nikolas (Nikolaos Pavlopoulos) from Pelion began the study for the creation of a magnificent statue of the great politician and military leader of antiquity, Themistocles (527-459 BC). The project was finally completed after ten years and it was decided that it would be placed in Themistokleous Square or Tinianeios Kipos, a space which was occupied until then by the so-called “Clock”, a building that housed the Piraeus City Hall until it was demolished during the period of the Greek junta. The statue was officially unveiled in 1976. It is a brass statue on a granite pedestal, standing at a height of 9 metres. It depicts Themistocles standing upright and dressed in military attire, holding his sword in his left hand and pointing to the port of Piraeus with his right hand. It is worth mentioning that his facial features have been copied from the bust of Themistocles that is kept in the archaeological museum of Ostia, in Italy.