Evzones: Standing Guard over Those Known Unto God

Stay connected to Greek City Times for Free on Google News
Click NOW

by Nikos Gavrilakis, President of the Hellenic Presidential Guard’s Evzones’ Society

Evzones of the Hellenic Presidential Guard stand watch at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Syntagma Square, carrying the heritage of the army’s first light infantry units.

Summer in Athens. A Sunday afternoon. The heat is excessive even by the standards of the season. A tourist walks through Syntagma Square. He has just come down from the Acropolis, where he photographed the Parthenon. Following the guidebook in his hands, he passes another of Hellenism’s most photographed symbols: the Evzones of the Hellenic Presidential Guard.

He knows nothing about these men in their old-fashioned uniforms. They are guarding something. Standing guard over something. A tomb, perhaps? A skeleton? Or something more important still?

Countless tourists, foreign and Greek alike, have found themselves in precisely this position. They see the Evzones of the Presidential Guard, either in their everyday service uniform, the doulama, or in their formal white uniform, standing at their posts with the discipline of statues that breathe pride and command respect. Visitors may encounter them outside the Presidential Mansion or, more commonly, at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the heart of the city.

At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The history of the Evzones, whose tradition the Presidential Guard carries on today, goes much further back in time. Evzone companies were the first light infantry units formed within the Greek Army as it rose, like a phoenix, in a newly liberated Greece. The Presidency of the Hellenic Republic records the ceremonial unit’s origin in a royal decree of 12 December 1868.

The Army’s Evzone units were traditionally manned by young men from rural areas. Hardened by their way of life and closely accustomed to the land and the elements, early-20th-century Evzones developed into highly effective light infantry. Their missions frequently required unconventional routes of advance, bypassing main roads and moving along mountain paths inaccessible to motorized transport. In modern terms, many of these missions showed characteristics later associated with elite infantry units.

Greek Evzones in the Balkan Wars and World War I

Throughout the Balkan Wars, the Evzone units repeatedly distinguished themselves by their speed of movement and aggressive fighting spirit. During the First World War, they put the French concept of élan into practice, charged the fortified slopes of Skra, and captured the mountainous position, earning the admiration of Greece’s Entente allies and significantly enhancing the Greek Army’s reputation in their eyes. The Battle of Skra-di-Legen on 29–30 May 1918 was the first large-scale success of Greek forces on the Macedonian front.

Britannica notes that organized Evzone units, like Scottish Highlanders, won fame for bravery in the Balkan Wars and World War II.

Wartime service of Evzone regiments

During the Second World War, units of the 42nd Evzone Regiment bore much of the weight of the preparatory artillery bombardment at dawn on 28 October 1940, as Italian forces invaded Greece from recently occupied Albania. In the crucial Battle of Kalpaki, units of the 40th and 42nd Evzone Regiments fought side by side, contributing decisively in preventing the Greek defensive line from breaking. The 5/42 Evzone Regiment, later redesignated the 42nd, served on that front in the Greco-Italian War.

By the time Greece capitulated in April 1941, Evzone regiments had been awarded the Cross of Valour for their wartime service, while the 42nd Evzone Regiment received the distinction twice. To put the significance of this decoration into perspective for Commonwealth readers, the Cross of Valour was Greece’s highest award for gallantry in wartime; its closest contemporary counterpart in the Commonwealth honours system was none other than the Victoria Cross. The Cross of Valour remained Greece’s senior battlefield decoration until later reforms.

After the Second World War and Greece’s liberation, the Army discontinued its Evzone units, retaining only some unit designations as honorary titles. Today, the Evzones of the Presidential Guard carry the military heritage of all those who came before them. The unit is the last Evzone formation in the Hellenic Army and serves under the Military Office of the Presidency.

The Evzones of today’s Presidential Guard no longer defend the country’s frontiers. They still keep a 24-hour watch at the cenotaph and at the Presidential Mansion, in every season, as official duty statements confirm.

Hellenic Presidential Guard stand watch over memory

The anonymous tourist in our story may leave Syntagma Square believing he has simply photographed two men in an “old-fashioned uniform” performing a “strange march”. But if he knows their history, he will understand that he has photographed much more than two guards. Sunday’s grand change of the guard, and the hourly relief at the monument, remain among Athens’ most visited civic rituals. Related coverage includes the Presidential Guard anniversary, Evzones heatwave duty in 2026, and the work of Evzone photographer Pantelis Xystros.

He has photographed the men who stand watch over the Memory of those who fell for their Homeland, for freedom, and for Democracy.

Men who ensure that, just as the flame of the vigil lamp above the cenotaph never goes out, the sacrifice of those who fell will never be allowed to fade into oblivion.

Written by Nikos Gavrilakis, President of the Hellenic Presidential Guard’s Evzones’ Society.

Photos: Copyright Nick Bourdaniotis, Greek City Times

Stay updated with the latest news from Greece and around the world on greekcitytimes.com.
Contact our newsroom to share your updates, stories, photos, or videos. Follow GCT on Google News and Apple News.