“The Ministry is fully aware of the enormous weight it carries, this protection of cultural heritage, and has taken all appropriate actions. At the moment the goal in the world heritage list must be national and is one. And it must be common. And who is he? Minoan civilization must emerge and be established worldwide in what it really is: the dawn of Western culture. ” With these words, the Minister of Culture completed her secondary in Parliament Lina Mendonianswering the timely question of PASOK MP-Francis Parasiris “Knossos and the necessary maintenance and restoration projects”.
As the Minister pointed out, “On 17/05/2025 Knossos was hit by 9 beaufort winds in the form of a tornado. The Queen’s Mansion, where the copy of the frescoes, is not accessible. That is, it is closed to the public, but not for the winds. The Queen’s Mansion, perimeter, has large openings, the luminaries, to the outdoors and an open luminaire, through which strong air currents are created. He knows this, anyone who has visited the palace, as the Mansion is on the course of visitors coming to the eastern wing. “
Noting that “the royal apartments, the King’s Mansion and the Queen’s Mansion, are part of the palace and are closed to the public since the 1980s”, L. Mendoni said that “the restoration of the King of the King was completed by funding from the 2014 Crete 2014. Government, with a budget of 1,000,000 euros and the implementation of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Heraklion “. Scientific and epistemological issues must be resolved during the preparation of the studies, and of course it is the monument itself which, in many cases, dictates its time, “the minister stressed, noting that” the competent departments of the Ministry of Culture have prepared a set of studies, which allows the funding of 20, Excellent cooperation with the Region of Crete, we have developed a strategy of integrated spatial investment, iconic routes of Crete, with the main subject of upgrading the experience of visitors to the Minoan palace centers, with a focus on Knossos, Phaistos and Malia. “
According to L. Mendoni, the NSRF 2014 -2020 is secured by EUR 900,000, while the integrated spatial investment has been secured by EUR 8 million and relate to the following projects: Reception and upgrading of the archaeological site of the Archaeological Site to the Minoan Palace of Knossos. Restoration and promotion of the Queen’s Hall and visitors’ routes, budget 1,800,000 euros. Installation of permanent water and fire brigade, budget of 2,000,000 euros.
At the same time, the recovery fund concludes the project “National Strategy for Adapting the Protection of Cultural Heritage Monuments on the Impact of Climate Change”, with a budget of 2,000,000 euros and the project includes Knossos. Funding from the Recovery Fund implements the project “Systems for the Recording and Monitoring Systems for the impact of climate change, in the micro -environmental conditions for the preservation of monuments’ materials”, with a budget of EUR 2,500,000. Already in this project, monitoring systems have been installed in Knossos. With 750,000 euros, from the Recovery Fund, it was implemented by the pedestrian repair and upgrading of the shop since May 2024. Since April 2024, traffic areas have been operating via e -ticket and have helped a lot in the flow of visitor flow.
Finally, in response to the point of PASOK’s question about the program contract with the Region of Crete signed in 2019, L. Mendoni said: “Indeed, in April 2019, the Planning Agreement was signed, with a budget of 140,000 euros with the Region of Crete. However, due to a mistake in the drafting of the programmatic, by the Ministry of Culture, which referred to incompatibility with the then institutional framework, the programming could not go ahead and only 38,500 euros were absorbed by the budget. In order to proceed with the drafting of the candidacy file, the Ministry of Culture allocated 145,000 euros from its own budget. The project began on 30/11/20 and was completed on 30/09/23. “
“These are attributed to” Caesar of Caesar’s “and to entertain any impressions,” the minister stressed.