In the presence of Minister of Culture Linas Mendonis, Deputy Minister of Sports Lefteris Avgenakis, Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnaoutakis, local authorities and figures of the region, the opening of the Messara Museum, an archaeological museum with more than 900 exhibits, which extends over 3.5 thousand square meters and its creation was a request for decades for the local community.

The inauguration was performed by the Metropolitan of Gorty and Arcadia. Blessed are the presence of many people who hastened to see the museum halls up close, in which archaeological finds from the wider region are exhibited.

Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni stated that it is “a very important museum that has been a dream and a demand of the local community for many decades” and that it “meets all requirements, museological and museographic, so that it can be especially friendly to the visitor to be a place of education , entertainment and learning”. As she noted, the museum has a total budget of about 8 million euros and was funded from the last two EU financial programs, the NSRF of the Ministry of Development and from the national resources of the Ministry of Culture.

“We are especially pleased that today we are dedicating a museum, two months ahead of scheduleMs Mendoni said, adding that the goal was to open before the start of the tourist season “because we want it to be included in the list of destinations from this year.”

Deputy Minister of Sports Lefteris Avgenakis called this day “historic for the Messara region”, expressing his joy at the opening of the museum.

“Well done to everyone who worked to achieve this result. This is not the result of the work of the last government, but the truth is that there has been increased pressure in recent times to find a result. And yes, today we are opening the Messara Museum,” added Mr. Avgenakis.

He was on the sidelines of the inauguration protest of some employees of the Ministry of Cultureagainst the backdrop of the transformation into NPDD of five major museums in the country, including the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion.

“NPDDs are purely public, they are owned and supported by the public, so let’s not mislead some about privatization,” Ms. Mendoni said, adding that “we want the country’s five main museums to operate autonomously, without the shackles of endless bureaucracy, precisely in order to better fulfill its task and function mainly for the development and economic development of the local society, the region and, ultimately, the national economy.

Source: RES