The hugely important cave is expected to be delivered in May – A museum is also being built, which will be ready in August 2023 – Autopsy of minister Lina Mendoni
“The next tourist season the cave of Petraloni, like the Museum, will once again welcome their numerous visitors. The planning of the service is to deliver the cave in May and the museum in August next year,” said Minister of Culture and Sports Lina Mendoniduring an autopsy he performed yesterday.
As Lina Mendoni said, “the cave and the museum of Petraloni must function again, as they are an important cultural and economic resource for the region and the wider region. Today, we found solutions to issues that were delaying the work on the cave in order to speed up the processes of rendering it to the public. The work at the museum is at a satisfactory stage. We also provided guidance on an issue that had not been addressed by the existing study: Inclusion in the design of the multipurpose room. I asked for the procedures to be expedited so that the entire site is operational within the next tourist season. At the same time, the services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports are preparing studies to highlight the surrounding area of ​​the cave and the museum, to be financed in the next programming period so that the area acquires the quality and importance it deserves”.
In the Petralona cave, the project “Upgrading the Petralona Cave and Upgrading its Infrastructure” is underway, with a budget of 1,053,848 euros, funded by the PEP of Central Macedonia – NSRF 2014-2020.
At the same time, the digital project “Development of a digital platform and open viewing laboratory for the highlighting, documentation and maintenance of the Petralona cave” is being completed, with a budget of 195,031 euros and funding within the Action “Special Actions “AQUACULTURE” – “INDUSTRIAL MATERIALS” – “OPEN INNOVATION IN CULTURE” of EPANEK 2014-2020. Also, the maturation of the restoration and enhancement studies of the surrounding area and the building facilities of the cave is being completed. A solution was also given for the operation of the refreshment center through ODAP with the cooperation of the Municipality of Aristotelis.
At the Museum, the project “Re-exhibition of the collections of the Petralona Museum” is underway, with a budget of 529,200 euros financed by the PEP of Central Macedonia – NSRF 2014-2020.
Within July, the Ephorate will submit a supplementary proposal for unifying the style of the exhibition units. The accessibility project for the disabled both in the museum and in the cave is part of the Ministry of Education and Culture to be financed by the Recovery Fund.
Yesterday afternoon, Lina Mendoni opened the exhibition “The Revolution of 1821 in Halkidiki” in the Old Building of the Neo Flogitos joint-stock complex. The exhibition offers the visitor the possibility to be “virtually” at the center of the events of the Halkidiki revolution, to enjoy exhibits such as weapons and accessories of the fighters, to study letters from the family archive of Emmanuel Papas, but also to draw through an interactive multimedia applying rich and documented information about the struggle of the revolution in the region.
In her greeting, Lina Mendoni said: “A new, particularly important and interesting periodic exhibition is hosted and officially opens its doors to the public in the Old Building of the joint-stock complex, which completes the cycle of anniversary events of the Ministry of Culture and Sports for the completion of 200 years since the beginning of the Revolution of 1821. The great national liberation struggle, which led to the shaking off of the Ottoman yoke and the creation of the independent Greek State. A struggle, which for important areas of Hellenism, such as Macedonia, was extremely arduous and long-lasting, as the much-desired integration into the free national body did not come until a century or so later than southern Greece or even more, requiring multiple efforts during this time, repeated disappointments and great sacrifices, which, however, never weakened the spirit and faith of the local Greek populations.
The historically documented presentation of the struggle of 1821 in Halkidiki, with particular emphasis on the human factor, is the primary purpose of this particular exhibition. An exhibition that, alongside the narration of the military events through weapons, maps, publications and other relics and objects of the time, seeks to bring to the fore the faces and stories of the named and anonymous fighters, their patriotic fervor, enthusiasm, the thirst and expectation for freedom and national justice, but also their disappointment from the unsuccessful outcome of the unequal struggle, which brought enormous pain and suffering to the ordinary people of Halkidiki”.
The Minister was accompanied to the autopsy of the hands by the Mayor Aristoteli Stelios Valianos, the head of the Ephorate of Paleoanthropology of Speleology Andreas Darlas, the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Halkidiki and Mount Athos Giorgos Skiadaresis and officials of the YPPOA.
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