Rethymno museum’s final studies near completion, antiquities chief says

Rethymno MP Giannis Kefalogiannis met on September 7 with Eleni Papadopoulou, head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymno, to review progress on major cultural heritage projects across the region, including the New Archaeological Museum of Rethymno, according to a statement from the MP’s office.

Papadopoulou told Kefalogiannis that the final studies for the museum have been approved and all required permits secured. After incorporating corrections from the most recent reviews, an application study and tender documents are expected shortly, which would complete the study phase of the project, she said.

The building’s budget, currently estimated at around €30 million, still needs to be finalized before the project can move to the next stage of securing financing and putting the work out to tender, according to the update. In parallel, the Ephorate is preparing to define the museum’s operational needs, including display cases and exhibition equipment, digital systems, and equipment for laboratories and the amphitheater, so that this work can proceed alongside the building’s construction timeline.

Fortezza and Arkadi Monastery

Regarding the Fortezza fortress, the study covering its walls and surrounding area has been completed and approved by the Ministry of Culture, Papadopoulou said, while a separate study on the fortress’s monumental buildings has already been reviewed. Additional supporting data has been requested for that study and is being prepared, with officials aiming to complete the process in the coming period. Once finished, the studies are expected to give a clear picture of the overall scope and cost of work on the monumental buildings, walls and slopes, as well as pathways and layout of the site.

For Arkadi Monastery, the briefing focused on the Ephorate’s broader plan for protecting and maintaining the historic monastic complex and upgrading the surrounding area. This includes creating organized parking areas based on a study already approved by the Central Archaeological Council (KAS), for which officials are pursuing a funding application through the LEADER program. Additional maintenance and protection measures for the monument complex are also under consideration.

Other sites across the region

Papadopoulou also updated the MP on work at the Minoan Palatial Center of Zominthos, whose international profile has grown further since the Minoan Palatial Centers were added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. She referred to completed enhancement and protection works at the Armeni Necropolis and the Monastiraki archaeological site, as well as plans to promote the ancient Axos site through a five-year program funded by the Region of Crete.

MP calls for an integrated approach

Following the meeting, Kefalogiannis said each individual project should serve the same broader goal of showcasing Rethymno’s cultural heritage. He said the New Archaeological Museum could become the central point of a wider network of museums, monuments and accessible archaeological sites spanning the region.

“Rethymno has an exceptional cultural wealth. From the start I have argued that we should not treat each monument and archaeological site in isolation, but as part of an overall plan,” Kefalogiannis said, adding that the museum could address a long-standing gap while serving as the starting point for a broader network of sites across the region.

He noted that reaching the current stage required significant technical and political groundwork, including programmatic agreements between the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Crete and the Municipality of Rethymno, and successive approvals of the studies. He recalled that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Culture Minister Lina Mendoni had made commitments to the museum’s implementation at the most recent Rethymno Development Conference, with Mendoni saying that significant resources for cultural projects in Crete had been secured, part of which would go to Rethymno.

Kefalogiannis said that once the tender documents and a clear cost picture are available for the museum, the Fortezza restoration and maintenance work, and other advanced projects, a new round of talks with the Culture Minister would follow, aimed at identifying the appropriate funding tool for each project and securing the necessary resources. He thanked Papadopoulou and Ephorate staff for what he described as consistent cooperation from planning through to implementation.