December 8, 2021: Greek National Cultural Autonomy office opening ceremony was held in Taganrog. It brought together Taganrog Local Government's Chief Administrator Irina Voitsekhovskaya, Head of Civil Society Department at Taganrog Local Government Alexander Balayev, the project coordinator of Russian Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Greeks and chairwoman of Rostov Greek National Cultural Autonomy Melina Leonova, deputy of Taganrog City Council (Duma) Yelena Sirota, and others.
The efforts of Taganrog Greek National Cultural Autonomy (led by Pavel Revko-Linardato) aimed at preserving Greek cultural heritage were praised during the ceremony.
Taganrog has its rich traditions connected with Greece, rooted in history. Such famous Russian Greeks of the 19th century as Varvatsi, Benardaki,
Alferaki, Valliano, Scaramanga,
Yordanov, Avgerino,
Kuinzdhi were strongly linked with Taganrog. Since
the end of the 18th century Taganrog had been one of the biggest and most influential centers of Greek diaspora in the Russian Empire and made a significant contribution to the Greek struggle for independence. The Greeks considerably influenced the
architecture of Taganrog's historic downtown area.
The contemporary social movement of Taganrog Greeks has almost 30 years of history. Taganrog Greek Society "HELLAS" operated in 1990s. Taganrog Greek National Cultural Autonomy was registered in December 2016.
Earlier,
in March 2021 Greek Ambassador to Russia Ekaterini Nassika visited Taganrog to open the exhibition "Arise, oh Greece, Arise!" at Chekhov Literature Museum. It was timed to bicentennial anniversary of the beginning of the Greek War for Independence.