SYRIZA–Progressive Alliance MPs Pavlos Polakis and Kalliopi Vetta, joined by nine more MPs, submitted a parliamentary question and a formal request for documents on the planned interventions at the Diktaion Andron (the Zeus Cave) above Psychro, Lasithi. Their text frames the project as a case of massive and arbitrary interventions within a forest area, within Natura 2000, within a landscape classified as of special natural beauty, within an archaeological site, and within the 500-metre protection zone around the cave entrance.
Their core accusation is simple: what is being presented to the public as a modest accessibility “lift” is, on paper, something far larger, heavier, and more permanent than the word suggests.
The Lift Is Not Balance
According to the MPs, Subproject 1—budgeted at roughly €10.5 million—does not describe a small accessibility device but a rail-based transport system resembling a funicular or “teleferik” concept. They say the plan includes a cabin capacity of at least 18 people moving on rails around 250–260 metres long, supported by steel pillars placed at regular intervals and anchored on reinforced concrete bases, plus additional concrete structures and facilities such as station areas, ticketing, waiting spaces, electromechanical rooms, shelters, stairs, and associated hydraulic works.
They also allege extensive ground disturbance, including vegetation removal over a large area, rock cutting along the route, excavations for concrete foundations, and new routing elements that, in their view, shift the project away from a narrowly defined accessibility intervention and toward a stand-alone mass visitor infrastructure. They argue the cave itself remains inherently difficult within, and claim the route would not even end at the cave mouth, requiring additional work beyond the “lift” line.
The MPs further claim the terminology used—αναβατόριο or slope lift—is part of a strategy to avoid the project being treated as the kind of installation that normally triggers stricter environmental scrutiny.
Environmentally and Legally Risky
Their argument leans heavily on the site’s stacked protection status. They cite the Natura 2000 designation for the area (GR4320002) as well as the archaeological protections and the 500-metre zone, which, they say, explicitly restrict bulky construction. On top of that, they point to the funding context: the project was included under the Recovery and Resilience Facility framework, with a total budget cited near €15.97 million, and they claim the “lift” subproject was folded into the programme without mature studies and with shifting implementing bodies through later modifications.
They also question how environmental licensing was handled, referring to a Ministry of Environment document they describe as general and vague, and they argue it could not have properly assessed impacts before detailed studies and plans existed. The MPs ask whether there is any environmental impact assessment or scientific documentation demonstrating that rock cutting, excavations, concrete works, and large installations within protected zones will not damage ecosystems or the protected landscape.
They call on three ministries—Environment and Energy, Culture, and National Economy and Finance—to answer detailed questions and deposit the full document trail in Parliament: correspondence, meeting minutes, submissions that supported any environmental “non-requirement” position, the Culture Ministry file and KAS-related documentation, and the finance-side evaluations supporting eligibility and compliance with “do no significant harm” principles.
In plain terms, they are trying to force daylight into the paperwork: who proposed what, based on which studies, with which approvals, and under what legal logic.
This is not a small local quarrel dressed up as mythology. It is a national-level argument about what accessibility means in a protected archaeological landscape, and whether a project can be sold as gentle while being designed as heavy.
If your original goal was see a cave in Crete, there are other caves on the island that are accessible depending on the season and maintenance schedules. The key point is that Diktaion Andron is not the only option.
Treat Lassithi as the destination, and the cave as an optional bonus that currently does not exist.
Written with assistance from Arthur AI.
