Going north on Aristotelous Square, just before reaching the Archaeological site of the Roman Agora, is the statue of Eleftherios Venizelos, one of the most characteristic personalities of modern Greek history.
Having taken the burden of some of the most important decisions, that affected Greece throughout the 20th century, on his shoulders, he played a decisive role in a series of events that proved to be of major importance for the city of Thessaloniki.
During his tenure as prime minister, he successfully restored diplomatic relations with Greece’s neighboring states, while extending a series of important constitutional revisions.
In addition, he made serious efforts aiming at modernizing the economy, generally reorganizing the army, and consolidating the country’s diplomatic and geostrategic influence.
After a series of successive victorious battles during the Balkan Wars (1912 – 1913) he worked methodically in order to put Greece on the side of the allies, simultaneously achieving the expansion of the Greek borders in Asia Minor. However, his Allied-friendly policy brought him into conflict with the monarchy, which gradually led to the creation of the National Schism.
The schism negatively affected the unity of the place by creating political tension, polarization and division between the two groups, causing a strong division between the supporters of King Constantine and the supporters of Venizelos, while it deeply affected the social and political life of the country for decades.
In 1935, Venizelos returned to the forefront of political life, even supporting a military movement against the Greek government. His failure significantly weakened him, his supporters, and democracy itself in Greece. After these events, Venizelos left the country and retired to Paris until his death in 1936.
He was an extremely capable, politically astute man whose actions shaped modern Greek history. His monument is located in one of the most famous squares in Greece, Aristotelous Square, in the center of the city of Thessaloniki.
Congratulation!