For a very long time, the monarchy has persisted as a cultural obsession. Be it a wedding or a coronation, the public is always looking for details. They love to read magazines dedicated to royal news. It won’t be wrong to say that people are just captivated by whatever the royals do. This time, the subject is royal guards. A video has gone viral on the internet, showing a very humorous aspect of how Greece’s royal guards march.
The video, posted on Instagram, shows two Greek royal guards marching. What’s intriguing (or, to be honest, hilarious) is how the march is carried out. Slow motions, long strides, mid-air foot ballet, and their quirky shoes deserve special attention. With so much show packed into a single video, we’re ignoring the skirt and leggings.
The video received 2 million views on the social media platform. People in the comments section were laughing, enthralled, inquisitive, and captivated. Many users joked in their comments, connecting the video to people’s reactions to various circumstances. A user wrote, “My kid when we are in a hurry.” Another user jokingly wrote, “When you are paid by an hour.”
Meanwhile, another user humorously stated, “Oh no, they are chasing me. I’ve only time to order a takeout coffee.” “Can’t ignore the pompom on their shoes,” said another user. So, who are they and what were they doing?
The guards in the video are members of the Greek Army’s elite Evzones regiment, also referred to as Tsoliades. They are stationed in front of the Hellenic Parliament to protect the Unknown Soldier Monument. Each soldier stands to watch for a single hour at a time and a total of three times each forty-eight-hour period. They operate in pairs to flawlessly synchronise their moves.
The Presidential Guard outfit has significant historical roots. The white skirt, which takes thirty metres of fabric, has 400 folds, symbolising the 400 years of Ottoman rule over the Greeks.
The strange shoes they were wearing in the video are known as Tsarouchia, and they weigh more than three kilogrammes. The base of the shoes has at least 60 nails that mimic the sound of battle while the Evzone is moving.
It’s been said that the guards’ movements and the sound the nails on the shoe’s base make are intended to mimic a horse. The Tsarouchia’s toe is pointed upward and adorned with a hand-cut, black silk pom-pom.
According to legend, a young King Otto could no longer hear the noises he loved—the sounds of horses—after moving from Bavaria to Greece to ascend to the throne. So he had his guards move in this manner to recreate the sound and make him feel closer to home.
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