Tsolias and Amalia

Today, Greeks all over the world celebrate the Day of Independence. The March 25 of 1821 is celebrated as the first day of the greek revolution against the ottoman rule. This day was chosen to set up on the day of Annunciation symbolizing the redemption of the greek nation.

Αfter the war was over and some more social and political adventures, in 1833, Greeks welcomed the first King of Greece.

Otto was the second son of Crown Prince and later King Ludwig I of Bavaria, and Theresa, daughter of the Duke of Altenburg Sazen.

He was chosen by England, France and Russia and he was only 17 when he first arrived in Greece.

Two weeks later, Otto replaced the previous greek currency "Phoenix" with "drachma" which, 'till then, was not in use for nearly 2000 years.

In 1834, he moved the capital of Greece from Nafplio to Athens where he constructed a whole new city.

Before the greek revolution, Ottomans had turned the remains of the Parthenon into mosque and the Acropolis into an ottoman neighborhood full of houses.

The Old Palace in Athens, today's House,was built at the expense of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, as a personal loan to his son Otto. The foundation stone was laid in 1836 and Otto moved in with his wife Amalia in 1843.

Following his wife's advice, he also selected the costume of "tsolias" to be the greek national costume.

The foustanela (skirt) was made by 400 rectangular triangles fabrics that symbolize the 400 years of ottoman rule, sewn together with oblique straight.

On the upper part of the body, Otto's tsoliades wore the "meintani", a tight vest buttoned to the neck. Over this one wore a second tight but shorter vest with long sleeves that were open to the inner side, the "fermelis".

Small lethal weapons were usually hidden under the wide vest.

Before "tsarouhi", tsoliades wore "videla" a kind of patent leather shoes and above them wore a kind of leggings called "touzloukia".

Queen Amalia also chose the female national costume of modern Greece. She and her husband hoped that costume could be a way to come closer to greek people.

The female national costume is an inspiration of Amalia and bears her name. It consists of patchy - Greek and foreign-elements.

Over her vienneze-fashioned dress she wore a tight kind of jacket that is inspired by the "kavadi" of the Karagounes of Thessaly.Over the "kavadi" she added the "zimpouni" which is a costume element in many greek islands.

The fez is also characteristic in "Amalia's" costume . The rich tassel is typical of married women and single women wore another type of hat, the "kalpaki".

By the beginning of the 20th century, national costumes had already a more simplified form and were part of everyday wardrobe until the 1930s.

Today, the costume of tsolias is worn mainly by children, in special occasions and the members of the Presidential Guard, theathenians.blogspot.gr/2013/03/tsoliades-in-brussels.html