- Heraklion Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos officially signed the contract for critical slope stabilization works on Navarinou Street in Fortetsa.
- The €450,000 project features a strict 12-month timeline to resolve severe soil instability that threatened local commuters.
- Repairs will reconstruct a collapsed 17th-century Ottoman military retaining wall under the strict guidance of the Archaeological Service.
- Infrastructure upgrades along the entire stretch of Navarinou Street include comprehensive repaving and the installation of modern steel safety barriers.
The ancient soils of Fortetsa, a northern suburb heavily anchored to Heraklion’s sprawling history, are finally receiving the structural reinforcement they desperately need. Following months of administrative preparation to preserve both commuter safety and local heritage, Heraklion Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos officially signed the contract to launch the comprehensive restoration of the collapsing hillside slope on Navarinou Street.
The official signing took place on Friday morning, gathering a specialized team including the Deputy Minister of Technical Works and Greenery Vasilis Spyridakis, the President of the 4th Municipal Community Dorothea Vrouchou, the President of the Fortetsa Cultural Association Giorgos Giannikas, and Technical Service Engineer Loukiana Kandilaki. Unlike the vague municipal declarations often seen across the island, this initiative arrives backed by a finalized budget and a concrete engineering strategy.
Balancing Modern Traffic with 17th-Century Military Architecture
The intervention zone carries a profound historical weight that complicated initial planning. Fortetsa owes its very identity to the Ottoman fortress erected on the hills during the tumultuous 17th century, serving as a critical strategic vantage point during the protracted Siege of Candia. The retaining wall supporting Navarinou Street isn’t merely modern concrete; it constitutes one of the rare surviving remnants of Ottoman military architecture in the immediate suburban district.
Progressive soil shifting and underground earth movements had caused severe instability along the road, leading to the partial collapse of this historically significant stone masonry wall and creating an immediate hazard for local vehicular traffic.
“This is an incredibly important project from many perspectives for the region, and we did not abandon it for a single moment so that no time would be lost,” Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos stated during the signing ceremony. “The site has a double value as it is of significant archaeological interest. Fortetsa, as we know, is the Ottoman fort created in the 17th century, and at this spot lies one of the few remaining remnants of military architecture.”
Concrete Technical Solutions and Project Data
According to the finalized technical report, the project operates under a strict 12-month execution timeline and will deploy a series of highly specific engineering measures to permanently stabilize the hillside:
- Funding and Scope: A total allocated budget of €450,000 completely funded through municipal technical resources.
- Excavation and Stabilization: General excavation works will begin immediately to carefully remove the precarious sections of the stone masonry wall that have not yet collapsed but remain structurally compromised.
- Archaeological Reconstruction: The collapsed segment of the historic Ottoman wall will be completely rebuilt using traditional stone-lining techniques, executed in strict accordance with the preservation directives issued by the regional Archaeological Service.
- Roadway Modernization: Workers will entirely strip away the existing, cracked asphalt layers and sub-base road bedding across the entire length of the intervention zone.
- Safety Upgrades: The street will receive a completely new layer of asphalt paving, finalized by the installation of high-grade steel safety guardrails to protect vehicles from the steep slope.
Following the formal signing, the municipal delegation remained on-site to hold an open dialogue with Fortetsa residents, mapping out secondary neighborhood concerns regarding local accessibility and transit routing while the heavy machinery operates over the coming year.
