Above the village of Kamarina, near Preveza, Greece, is the historic cliffs of Mount Zalongo.
The incident became known as the Dance of Zalongo.
The Monument of Zalongo honoring the women who chose death over disgrace and misery.
In the first few fights, Ali Pashas men, like those who tried before, were soundly defeated.
Finally, Ali Pasha realized that an enemy as formidable as the Souliotes can only be defeated through treachery.
So first, he cut off all routes of supplies until the enemy was starving.
But Ali Pasha had no plans of honoring it.
He ordered his soldiers to seize them as hostage.
Over one hundred fifty villagers were captured.
One group of over fifty women chose death over enslavement.
The women, holding their children in their arms, sang and danced on the cliff at Zalongo.
Then one by one they threw themselves over the cliff.
The story of the mass suicide at Zalongo rang throughout Europe and reverberated in the imagination of the people.
Tribute in the form of poems, songs, and dances poured out as commemorations of the heroic act.
In 1961, a hauntingly beautiful modernist sculpture honoring the women was constructed on the mountaintop site.
The 13-meters-tall Zalongo monument is now a popular tourist attraction in the region.
Les Femmes souliotesby Ary Scheffer (1795-1858).
Photo credit:Ary Scheffer Museum/Wikimedia
Photo credit:Vassilis/Flickr
Photo credit:Stelios D./Flickr
Photo credit:n.p.
photography/Panoramio
Photo credit:Ursula S/Panoramio
Sources:Wikipedia/www.helleniccomserve.com/www.visit-preveza.com/www.stthomas.edu
