On the issue of reuniting the Parthenon sculptures, the government has achieved the most that has been achieved in the last 50 years or at least since 1982, the Lina Mendoni in the context of a three-day visit to Heraklion and Lasithi

“These are not issues that evolve day by day. The representative of Turkey confirmed what, at least Greece, the Ministry of Culture and I personally have said since 2000. We know that there was no firman, that is a given for us. So Turkey is coming, which has the knowledge, it is logical for it to have the knowledge, to confirm that there is no such firman” noted the Minister of Culture.

“The Greek government has a very systematic program, it is moving methodically and very carefully already since 2019 and in the matter of reuniting the sculptures of the Parthenon it has achieved the most that has been achieved in the last 50 years or at least since 1982, when the issue was raised for the first time by Melina Merkouri” he said characteristically.

The Minister was welcomed in Heraklion by the Regional Governor Stavros Arnautakis and then held a meeting with the participation of their close associates. The subject of the meeting was the progress of the Ministry’s projects throughout Crete.

Immediately afterwards, answering a journalist’s question about what is the top project that will be the focus of her visit these days, Lina Mendoni said:

“Everything is important, everything is equally interesting and everything has, probably each one of them, has its own imprint, so we can’t separate and Dikteo Andros is very important and the Minoan Palaces, they are very important, so there are many things. We will see the walls the day after tomorrow with the District Governor and the Mayor, we have a lot to do.”

The Minister then referred to the Cultural Heritage School 3 Seminar on climate change and the effects on cultural heritage, which will be held at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, stressing:

“Tomorrow morning will begin the seminar organized by the Ministry of Culture with the American Embassy in Athens, the Greek section of ICOM and the close cooperation of the State Department to tackle climate change and the effects it has on the monuments. This is why we work closely with the National Research Foundation and the National Kapodistrian University. The seminar integrates the international experience because not only Greeks participate, they also participate from other countries, from Turkey, Malta, Jordan. The purpose is to exchange know-how and experience in order to face together the effects that climate change and extreme weather events can create and bring to cultural heritage. It takes place at the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Look, climate change is here. It is already present, we all live it. The key to dealing with it is prevention. The second equally important is the international collaborations, it is the international experience, which must be assimilated by all of us and for this reason the seminar we are doing in Heraklion this time is very important, we have done a similar one again in 2023 with the same partners in Thessaloniki.”

In response to a question about Knossos and the serial registration of the Minoan Palaces in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage list, the Minister emphasized that “the Ministry has filed the file for the serial registration of the Minoan Palaces. Clearly the largest, or the best known if you will, of the palaces is that of Knossos. The surrounding area, regardless of UNESCO, is not the one that befits a monument that has the glamor and enormous importance of Knossos”.