Page 21 - Beholding Liberty!

Initially, it was deemed appropriate to include an introductory section in the Peristyle on the ground floor entrance of the Parliament building. There is an open space outside the Parliament’s Plenary Sessions Hall, which has also been utilized for exhibitions of historical content in the past, particularly from 2014 on. The exhibition housed in the Peristyle functions as a smooth introduction to the main exhibition venue, held in the (former) Halls of the Trophies and the Adjutants, outlining the historical, cultural, intellectual and broader ideological framework within which the Hellenic Revolution broke out, demonstrating at the same time, the contribution of two differing groups to the goals of the Revolution: on one hand, foreign antiquity-worshippers who, through their recordings in works of art and illustrated publications, made known to western Europe the demand of the modern Greeks for freedom, and prepared the Philhellenic movement (unit I.1. From Archaeolatry to Philhellenism); on the other hand, the Greek scholars participating in the European Enlightenment who, through their teach- ing, contributed to the patriotic awareness of the Greeks (unit I.2. From the Enlightenment to Patri- otism). This was the “Awakening of Hellenism” (I) during the pre-revolutionary period (1770-1820) which aims to introduce the viewer conceptually to the entire theme of the Hellenic Regeneration, from its brewing as early as the 18th century up to its progressive culmination, approaching 1821.
The description of the preliminary processes also continues on the first floor, in the section “Prelude. Preparation for the Struggle”, in which reference is made to the activity of the Society of Friends (Φιλική Εταιρεία). Also, just before the entrance to the main Exhibition, visitors have an opportunity to review selected events of the Revolution on a chronological map, which offers them access to the place and time of the events they will encounter in the continuation of the Exhibition.
Altogether the former Halls of the Trophies and the Adjutants constitute the core part of the Exhibi- tion, providing a detailed account of the “Imprints of the Regeneration”.
The main exhibition hosted in the magnificent Hall of the Trophies was arranged as “Scenes and Figures of Freedom” (II) and was divided into six sub-units: the first large unit which describes the out- break of the Revolution during the early months of 1821 (January – April), at many points in Greece, but also outside it, in the Paradanubian Principalities (unit II.1 The outbreak of the Revolution). Then, beginning with the first National Assembly at Epidavros (21 December 1821 – 16 January 1822), as Greece’s first institutional gathering during the Revolution, constitutional texts of National Assemblies of the revolutionary period are presented (unit II.2 National Assemblies and Constitutions). The third unit follows developments in the years 1822 and 1823, when the Struggle was consolidated in cen- tral and southern Greece, while at the same time exceptional foreign interest was manifested in the events in revolutionary Greece (unit II.3 The consolidation of the Struggle). Later, violent upheavals followed, with the civil wars that would culminate in 1826 with Ibrahim’s invasion of the Peloponnese and the heroic fall of Missolonghi (section II.4 Critical Turning Points). The fifth section examines the diplomatic interventions by foreign powers, particularly in 1827, with crucial developments including the Treaty of London (6 July) and the decisive naval battle of Navarino (20 October), a landmark for the positive outcome of the Revolution (section II.5 Diplomatic interventions). The last unit of the exhibition focuses on the liberation of Greece, through the foundation of the “Panhellenion” by the first governor, Ioannis Kapodistrias, in 1828, and later upon the arrival in 1833 of Otto, the first king of the Greek People (unit II.6 The Liberation). In addition to these basic six units, in connection with the Frieze, in the Hall of the Trophies two large thematic units are also presented: the establishment of the Greek state on an institutional level, with the organization of the administration and the army, coupled with functions of the economy and education (unit II.7 The formation of the State), and one
Beholding Liberty through unique exhibits at the Hellenic Parliament 21