Greece Carries Out 900 Cultural Projects Worth Over €1.5 Billion

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Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said the Ministry of Culture has implemented more than 900 projects across Greece since 2019, with a total budget exceeding €1.5 billion.

Speaking Friday evening in Nafpaktos, Mendoni said the ministry has followed a comprehensive strategic plan covering the entire country and described the current programme as the largest cultural infrastructure effort ever undertaken over a comparable period.

She spoke at an event marking the completion of conservation, restoration, structural reinforcement and enhancement works at Nafpaktos’ Venetian port. The Ephorate of Antiquities of Aetolia-Acarnania and Lefkada and the Directorate for the Restoration of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Monuments carried out the project.

Mendoni credited both national funding and the Recovery and Resilience Facility with enabling the ministry to complete numerous projects.

“Since 2019, all interventions by the Ministry of Culture have followed a comprehensive strategic plan concerning our entire country,” Mendoni said.

She added that the ministry has been able to advance major projects through its own resources as well as the significant European funding secured for Greece by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Nafpaktos a priority for cultural heritage

Mendoni said Nafpaktos had to rank among the ministry’s priorities because of its extensive historical and archaeological heritage.

She particularly praised Olympia Vikatou, the current Secretary General of the Ministry of Culture, who previously served at the Ephorate of Antiquities of Aetolia-Acarnania and Lefkada.

According to Mendoni, Vikatou helped establish the conditions that allowed projects and studies in the region to reach maturity and move forward.

The minister said the ministry’s fundamental responsibility remains the protection, restoration and enhancement of Greece’s monuments. At the same time, she stressed the importance of returning restored monuments to local communities as living parts of their identity and as centres for development.

“Cultural heritage is a key driver of the development of local communities,” Mendoni said, arguing that the state has an obligation to protect these sites and invest in restoring their monumental and cultural wealth.

Venetian port restored for residents and visitors

Mendoni placed particular emphasis on the importance of Nafpaktos and its Venetian port, which she said enjoys recognition well beyond Greece because of the city’s decisive role at various points in Greek history.

She said the port therefore needed to undergo a comprehensive restoration and return safely to the local community, both for residents and for the growing number of visitors to Nafpaktos.

“And that is what we did,” Mendoni said, explaining that the project formed part of a wider development plan for Nafpaktos and the wider Aetolia-Acarnania region.

The minister also thanked ministry officials for their dedication, expertise and commitment to preserving Greece’s cultural heritage.

She thanked Western Greece Governor Nektarios Farmakis for his cooperation in making effective use of available cultural funding, as well as Nafpaktia Mayor Vasilis Gkizas, whom she credited with consistently pushing for action from the central government on behalf of the local community.

The event concluded with a concert by the ERT Symphony Orchestra at the Venetian port.

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