An application for serial registration of six Minoan palaces on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List has been submitted by the Ministry of Culture and Sports. These are the palaces of Zakros, Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zominth, Kydonia.

Announcement in detail:

The Ministry of Culture and Sports highlights the unique cultural identity of Crete in the context of the nomination for the consecutive registration of six Minoan palaces – Zakros, Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zominthos, Kydonia – on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List prepared by the Office of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities in collaboration with the Ephorates of Antiquities of Crete and with the support of the region of Crete. For the collection of documentary material, the role of scientific institutions that have been active in the area of ​​Crete for many years, such as the Foreign Archaeological Schools and the Athenian Archaeological Society, as well as the excavation of monuments, was also essential.

As the Minister of Culture and Sports, Lina Mendoni, stated, “palace centers are among the most emblematic elements of the Minoan civilization. They are geographically distributed throughout Crete and their general promotion outside the Palace of Knossos is a priority for the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The serial record allows the main palace centers to be displayed, but at the same time to have a complete picture of all aspects of the Minoan culture. The preliminary management plan for the Minoan palace centers constitutes the “core” of their management, with the aim of emphasizing their outstanding universal value as a cultural asset, as well as ensuring their authenticity and integrity. By nominating their serial registration on the UNESCO List of Monuments, the management of the Minoan palaces is consolidated on a holistic basis and their inclusion in a cultural itinerary that emphasizes and assimilates in development the dynamics of this unique and particularly rich cultural heritage.”

The Preliminary Plan for the Management of the Minoan Palaces, on which the Central Archaeological Council gave a unanimous positive opinion, follows the philosophy of a holistic framework for the coverage of the Minoan culture, which is reflected in the six archaeological sites to be registered, defines and provides, in the short and long term, ways to protect and view them . At the same time, it prescribes a system for the implementation of protection and management measures in order to secure their values ​​and pass them on to the next generations to the greatest extent possible.

The Preliminary Management Plan for the Minoan Palace Centers includes three main areas of research and study activities, records the pathology of the sites and proposes measures for their protection and restoration, modernization and development of infrastructure and services for visitors with the aim of overall improving their experience in archaeological excavations. The formulated goals are specific and measurable and, depending on the priority of implementation and need, are divided into immediate, medium-term and long-term actions.

With the revision in 2014 of our country’s Indicative List of Candidate Monuments for the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List and in order to ensure the most complete representation of the Minoan culture, the candidacy of Knossos until that time was expanded and turned into a series called: “Minoan Palace Centers (Knossos , Festus, Malia, Zakros, Kydonia)”. Subsequently, it was considered appropriate to include Zominthus in this series of nominations in order to more fully reflect the dispersion of Minoan culture across Crete. Six Minoan palace centers of ordinal nomination were established at key points and geographically cover the entire island, and chronologically the entire area of ​​the Minoan civilization from the Early and Middle Bronze Age of the founding of the first palaces (1900-1700 BC) and the Late Bronze Age from the heyday new palaces (1700-1450 BC) to the Final and post-palace period (1450-1100 BC).