Dance of Zalongo

Common card · No. 449517

Dance of Zalongo (Greek: Χορός του Ζαλόγγου, Horos tou Zalongou; Albanian: vallja e Zangolës) refers to the mass suicide of Souliote women and their children that is said to have occurred in the aftermath of the invasion of Ottoman troops on Souli on December 16, 1803. The event is commemorated in Greece in the context of the Greek War of Independence. Approximately 60 women were trapped at Mount Zalongo in Epirus during the period of Ottoman control. Rather than submit to the Ottoman troops chasing them, they decided to turn towards the cliff's edge and die with their infants and children. According to tradition, they did this one after the other whilst dancing and singing. A number of Greek theatrical dramas and a song in folk style commemorating the event are also named the Dance of Zalongo. The story of the Zalongo women became so popular within the Greek community that more Greek women chose to commit suicide rather than to suffer rape and enslavement. During the Greek War of Independence...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Ary Scheffer (Life time: 1795-1858), Public domain