Ioannina is a city northwest of Greece, located by the lake Pamvotis. It was the first Greek city involved in the Second World War operating as the headquarters of the Greek Army since the outbreak of the Greco-Italian war in October 1940. In April 1941, German forces attacked Greece from the north and despite their defense, the country signed an armistice and was placed under triple occupation by Germany, Italy and Bulgaria. 

From April 1940 until summer 1943, the region of Epirus was occupied by the Italian army. In summer 1943, the 1st Mountain Division of German Wehrmacht “Edelweiss” was transferred to Ioannina. During their stay, they enforced on the civilians a brutal retaliation policy for the actions of the Greek resistance. 

On the other side of Lake Pamvotis is the mountainous village Ligiades, overlooking the city of Ioannina. On 3 October 1943,a Sunday morning, the women of the village watched six trucks approaching the settlement. Almost all men were away for harvesting. Nazi troops looted the houses and burnt the buildings. Afterwards, they gathered the population in the square where they shot them with machine guns. 82 people were shot or burnt alive that day, 34 infants and children, 37 women and eleven  elders. 

The Memorial of the Massacre of Ligiades was constructed in 2002 by the sculpture Efstathios Leontis and was placed in the central square of the village in 2005. The scenes of the memorial are inspired by true facts. On the left side, the names and the ages of the victims are commemorated. 

Behind the memorial, the old village school operates today as a cultural center and presents audiovisual archives that refer to the massacre.A memorial service is held every year at the church of Saint George, which is next to the school and has been an important religious center of Epirus since the 17th century. 

Ligiades was recognised as a “Martyred Village” and joined the Greek Network of “Martyred Villages and Towns”.