Agios Nikolaos: memorial event for R. Koundouros

The Municipality of Agios Nikolaos, together with the Agios Nikolaos branch of the Panhellenic Union of National Resistance Fighters, is organising an event of honour and remembrance for the national martyr Roussos Koundouros. The announcement was made on Thursday 20 August 2026 and the event will take place on Sunday 23 August 2026. According to the programme published by Flashnews.gr, at 11:00 a memorial service will be held at the statue of Roussos Koundouros, on the 28th October pedestrian street, and at 11:30 a commemorative event will follow at the “PIATO” restaurant, which is housed in the historic building of the Koundouros family. The programme includes addresses and a main speech by the author and journalist Michalis Chourdakis (Nispita), while the music will be in the hands of Dimitris and Manolis Brokos.

The occasion for this year’s event is the passing of 82 years since the martyr’s death of Roussos Koundouros, who is described by the organisers as an emblematic figure of the National Resistance in Crete. The choice of the two points in the programme is not accidental and gives the event a double character. The first part has a ceremonial and public character, as it takes place in front of the statue, that is at a point in the public space that residents and visitors pass every day. The second part has the character of historical narrative and remembrance and is hosted in the building connected with the family itself, which ties the man to a specific place in the town and not only to a date in the calendar.

For Agios Nikolaos and for the prefecture of Lasithi, events of this kind serve as the main channel through which the local history of the Occupation is passed on to younger generations. The choice of date, a Sunday in the last third of August, places the event in a period when the town is at its tourist peak and the 28th October pedestrian street is busy. The joint organisation by the municipality and the union of fighters also shows the double origin of the initiative: on the one hand the institutional memory of local government, on the other the association that maintains the direct link with the people of the Resistance and their families.

The programme, as announced, ends with the second part in the historic building, and it has not been made known whether parallel activities, an exhibition of archive material or publication of the speeches are planned. Nor has it been announced whether registration is required for the second part or whether attendance is open, a detail of interest to anyone who wishes to be present. The organisers have not made known any further details beyond the timings and the speakers. More from the area on the Agios Nikolaos and Lasithi pages.