Monument and Tomb of Salamis Fighters

The Tomb of the Salamis Fighters is located on the northern coast of Kynosora, in front of the sea where the historic naval battle of Salamis took place in 480 BC. The opponents in the naval battle were the fleets of the united Greek forces with 370 ships, half of which were Athenian, and the Persians (Herodotus mentions 1,207 ships). The location of the naval battle, in the Straits of Salamis, was chosen by Themistocles. It was a position that favored the faster, smaller, and more maneuverable Greek ships. By the end of the battle, the powerful Persian fleet had been destroyed and the Greeks had repelled the Persian threat. Democracy and culture in the West were saved. The tomb, a tribute to the memory, is a circular pile of stones about twenty meters high, built of limestone and gravel. In the same area there is the bronze statue of the Salamis fighters, the work of the sculptor Achilles Vassiliou.