The monument of the Unknown Soldier in Zarko

Zarko is full of stories! Stories of people who lived for some years in the camp of our village, drank coffee and ate in the shops of our square, a square and a village that was once alive with life, that was flooded with the laughter and voices of young and old. One such story from the life of the camp is the story of the infantryman who sculpted the monument to the unknown soldier, which dominates the site of the once bustling camp.

The monument was designed, according to Zarkinos’ testimonies, in the 50s, specifically around 1953. I remember my mother telling us, when she was a little girl, together with her friend and my father’s sister Eleni, that they used to go to his church Agios Georgios and they watched the fandaro at the time of his dedication! They weren’t the only ones! All the children and young people of the village went to the cemetery, talked and admired the young man who carved the inanimate material, giving it the form of the other infantryman, who had assumed the role of the model!

Years ago the artist Fantaros passed through the village and left an envelope in Sotiris, in the “cottage” (cafe and tavern of the village) about the then authorities of the place. Today, the monument stands tall among the ruins of the barracks, showing its loneliness and abandonment.