Papoulias to inaugurate Nebojsa Tower

President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias and Serb President Boris Tadic will jointly inaugurate the landmark Nebojsa Tower in Belgrade on Friday. The recently renovated tower used to be the prison in which Greek independence struggle hero Rigas Velestinlis (also known as Ferraios) was put to death by Ottoman Turkish authorities in 1798.

Following the inauguration ceremony, Papoulias will be shown around all four levels of the new museum and then have a private meeting with his Serb counterpart, after which there will be a dinner in honour of the Greek delegation.

Papoulias will be accompanied by Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis, and his itinerary during his stay in Belgrade will include a visit to the Serb Patriarch.

The renovation of Nebojsa Tower was funded by Greece and the municipality of Belgrade and carried out over two years, at a cost of 1.8 million euros. The Greek state, via the Greek foreign ministry international developmental aid service 'Hellenic Aid', has paid 1.38 million euro toward the project.

The tower will serve as a museum exhibit site featuring exhibits related to the life and work of Rigas Feraios and also to the Serbs own struggle for independence from Ottoman rule. The second storey of the four-storey tower will be dedicated to Ferraios and the Greek revolution.

Other exhibits will focus on the tower's use as a prison at the end of the 18th and the start of the 19th centuries.

Nejbosa Tower is a medieval structure built by Hungarians on the ruins of an older Roman tower dating from the 1st century A.D. It was destroyed and rebuilt several times in its history. Rigas Ferraios was imprisoned there roughly seven months before he was put to death by the Turks, becoming one of the first martyrs in Greece's struggle for independence.

ANA-MPA