ATHENS – The exit of fighters and families from Missolonghi after a year-long siege by Ottoman and Egyptian forces "was not a defeat, it was a momement of breakout and courage of the highest order," Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou said on Orthodox Palm Sunday.

Commemorated nearly 200 years later, the event that led to the deaths and enslavement of survivors in the southwest Central Greek city in 1826, "left a great legacy calling on us to build a future worthy of them," the president said after she attended a memorial service and lay a wreath at the Tomb of Heroes in the city.

"Greatly moved and respectful, we are honoring today those who sacrificed their lives for love of life, not wanting to abase it by becoming enslaved," Sakellaropoulou noted.

The Greek president is also expected to pay a visit to the city's History and Art Museum, where she will meet with Missolonghi mayor Kostas Lyros.