Thousands of people made a kind of a pilgrimage on May 11 and 12 to the site of the battlefields surrounding Greece’s legendary Fort Roupel and the underground forts of the Metaxas Line, on the border of Greece and Bulgaria.
The fortunate visitors to the historic site re-created the battle of the Fort with reenactments which included explosions and other stunning effects, and were treated to an air show from the F-16 Zeus Aircraft Group.
Groups of people dressed in period World War II uniforms and equipped themselves with authentic armaments before the impressive reenactment of the Greek struggle to fend off the German army in April of 1941.
The reenactment of the horrific battle also included stunning effects, such as fire and explosions, bringing to life once again the desperate Nazi fight to occupy the fort and march toward the south.
The event presented the last dramatic hours of the battle and the subsequent negotiations for the surrender of the great city of Thessaloniki.
”It is the third year that the Municipality of Sintiki is organizing this event with the support of local authorities and professionals. There were about 5,000 people in the region last year,” Panagiotis Savvidis, one of the organizers of the event, told the Greek Reporter.
A pleasant surprise was a spectacular dance party that took place on Saturday night with people dressed in costumes from the time period.
The previous night, a tavern in the central square of Promachonas, hosted a show of rebetiko songs of the period between 1940 and 1941, offering a unique experience to the lucky guests.
Roupel is a fortress on the northern border of Greece’s Central Macedonia region. It was constructed in 1914, just prior to the First World War. Fort Roupel became part of the fortifications in the famous Metaxas Line in the 1930s, and it was the center of the defense during the German invasion of Greece in April of 1941.
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