This morning, a stolen bust of Papaflessas was found inside the Pamisos dam in Ari Messinias village. Residents of the area accidentally spotted the bust when they released the waters due to bad weather. They opened the dam, and the bust was revealed on the bank.
This is likely the bust stolen from the Tambouria of the Municipality of Pylos-Nestor in May 2022, with the authorities targeting "copper hunters" responsible for its disappearance.
The bust in the monument of Papaflessas was replaced by a new marble one, recently, in May 2023. The stolen one made of bronze had just been found today when it was located in the Pamisos River.
An entire operation was set up to retrieve it since it is a bronze bust weighing about 30 kilograms. There is also the possibility, and it is being considered that the bust also comes from Poliani or Maniaki.
The deputy mayor of Kalamata, George Favas, who was alerted by the residents, Vassilis Metsios and Aristodemos Tsoronis, who spotted the bust, as well as the president of the Arios Community, Grigoris Kostopoulos, were at the scene.
At the same time, a team from the Kalamata Security Sub-Directorate also rushed to the scene.
According to Messinia Live, it is estimated that this is the stolen bust of Papaflessas from his monument in Tambouria - because there are many similarities - which the perpetrators, after the publicity the matter received at the time, seem to have disposed of it in the river.
Grigorios Dimitrios Dikaios-Flessas (1788 – 25 May 1825), known as Papaflessas, was a Greek priest who became one of the most influential figures during the Greek War of Independence. The prefix papa- (παπα-) in the name Papaflessas indicates his status as a cleric since the word means 'priest' in Greek.
He was appointed Archimandrite in 1819. He served as Minister of Internal Affairs and Chief of Police in the government of Alexander Mavrokordatos.
Papaflessas was killed during the Battle of Maniaki on May 20, 1825, fighting against the forces of Ibrahim Pasha at Maniaki, Messinia.
READ MORE: Turkey: High school named "MAKEDONYA" in earthquake devastated Malatya.
