US Ambassador visits Kalavryta
US Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt was on a private visit to the town of Kalavryta, western Greece, Sunday.
Pyatt arrived the old fashioned way, by the rack railway from the Peloponnesian seaside town of Diakofto, 22 km (14 mi) away. He seemed to have particularly enjoyed the trip through the Vouraikos river gorge: he tweeted “Beautiful day on the amazing Kalavryta rack railway… Thank you @TrainoseGr for sharing it with me” from his account @USAmbPyatt
The US Ambassador visited the town museum accompanied by mayor Giorgos Lazouras and Leonidas Spyropoulos, director of the Kalavryta ski resort. There, he was briefed about the World War II Kalavryta Massacre – the shooting of the 696 male villagers aged 14 and over (13 survived) on Dec. 13, 1943 and the burning of the town, in retaliation for the execution of 79 German soldiers taken prisoner by resistance fighters six days earlier.
The Ambassador visited the massacre memorial in the field where it took place (photo).
