The archaeological site of Knossos, the Archaeological Museum of Herakleio and the bastions of the Venetian Castle, the Castle of Chios, the Acropolis of Sparta, the Tomb of Leonidas, the island of Spinaloga, the White Tower of Thessaloniki, the Akrotiri on Santorini, the Byzantine Castle of Trikala , the Firka Fortress, the Venetian port of Chania, the Rotonda (UNESCO monument), the Acheroupitos (UNESCO monument), the Royal tombs of Vergina, the Gallerios palace at Navarino Square, the forest of Sheikh Sou, the Byzantine Museum of Thessaloniki, the Stage Amphitheater of Patras, the archaeological site of Aegos, the archaeological site of Philippi (UNESCO monument), the Old Fortress of Corfu, the archaeological site of Lefkandi in Evia, the archaeological site of Elefsina, the Eternal Gate in Piraeus…
These are just some of Greece’s most important monuments and properties of cultural heritage that to be transferred to Super Privatization Fund.
The Association of Greek Archaeologists published on Friday, a list with 587 monuments that has identified until 2. Nov 2018 as those monuments that need to be excluded from privatization.
According to the AGA statement, the 587 monuments are part of a list of 2,329 monuments and archaeological sites for which the Greek Ministry of Culture has requested the Treasure Department to exclude from privatization. The more than 500 monuments on the list are in 37 Prefectures across the country, 57 of them alone are on Crete.
Last autumn, the AGA had denounced that Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos had transferred the state ownership of a total 10,119 archaeological sites and historical monuments to the Super Privatization Fund.
Despite pressure by the Greek Archaeologists, the Ministry of Culture has refused to publish the full list of the monuments to be privatized or excluded as the Culture and the Finance Ministry claimed.
In a press conference on Friday, the AGA said “Four months have passed, the Culture and the Financence Ministries hav eissued 8 statements claiming ‘everything is going well!’ but so far no joint ministerial decision has been issued to make things right.”
It is worth noting, that the Privatizations Fund has recently intervened at the Council of State following a petition by the Archaeologists’ Association, the Municipalities of Patras and Sparta. against the Finance Ministry decision to transfer the 10,119 monuments and sites to the Fund.
Against this background, organizations such as the Association of Greek Archaeologists have pointed out that the only solution guaranteeing the protection of cultural heritage is the exclusion of the related properties from the Super Privatization Fund and the institutional safeguarding of such monuments.
The full list of the 587 monuments is here
