- The long-delayed regeneration of Agia Triada in Heraklion is approaching a critical phase.
- If the project is tendered by the end of summer, locals say it will mark a real turning point.
- The process began in 1997, but the revised urban plan was only approved in 2018.
- Funding comes from a wider €13 million package, with €7 million earmarked specifically for Agia Triada.
- Additional related funding includes Delimarkou Street, Fabrica Anogeiannaki, and Dermatas projects.
Agia Triada is one of the most historic neighbourhoods of Heraklion. It has the bones of a city that once made sense: streets with memory, buildings with character, a quiet dignity that modern concrete never learned to imitate.
Earlier this month, Agia Triada was in the news for the worst possible reason.
A 56-year-old Canadian woman was found dead inside an abandoned building in the area—another moment that forces the city to look at what it has allowed to rot in plain sight. The body was discovered on January 8, inside a derelict property at the junction of Ntentidakidon and Kourtika streets, in the centre of Heraklion. Police sealed off the scene immediately.
Residents say the neighbourhood had smelled “bad” since New Year’s Day. Still, nobody imagined what was inside that building until a passerby walked into the nightmare.
And in the same breath—almost indecently—there is a second story unfolding: after nearly three decades of delays, paperwork, and lost files, the long-promised regeneration project for Agia Triada is approaching a point where it might finally turn into something tangible.
A Neighbourhood Full of Empty Buildings—and Fear
Locals describe a neighbourhood dotted with abandoned buildings that have become easy targets for informal access. More and more people, they say, have been entering these empty structures and spending the night inside. The result is not only decay, but also fear.
“We do not know who goes in,” residents say. And that line, simple as it is, carries everything: anxiety, vulnerability, exhaustion. There are concerns about hygiene, safety, and the normalisation of urban abandonment.
The woman’s body was found in advanced decomposition, suggesting she had died days earlier. She had not been declared missing, and there were no indications of a criminal record. The cause of death will be determined by forensic examination.
For Agia Triada, this is the kind of tragedy that does not happen “out of nowhere.” It occurs where neglect is routine.
The Regeneration Plan That Started in 1997
While the tragic incident shocked residents, it also brought the neighbourhood back into focus—alongside the urban regeneration project that has been stalled in Greek bureaucracy since 1997.
Speaking to neakriti.gr, Simeon Choupas, President of the Cultural Association of Agia Triada, said that Agia Triada’s regeneration “should have happened much earlier.”
Choupas explained that the process began in 1997, but the revision of the street plan (ρυμοτομικό σχέδιο) was not finally approved until 2018, after many delays across the Ministries of Culture and Environment.
In other words, the neighbourhood waited 21 years for a legal framework to catch up with reality.
The File That Was “Found” in a Ministry Office
There is a detail in this story that feels painfully Greek, and painfully true.
Choupas told neakriti.gr that he became actively involved in 2011 and visited the Ministry of Culture several times.
“I went to the Ministry and, searching in an office, I found the file,” he said.
He then sent letters to the then-Minister Pavlos Geroulanos and the General Secretary Lina Mendoni and recalled receiving a call the next day from Mendoni’s office. According to him, she moved quickly, requesting the necessary submissions within two weeks.
This is how heritage and neighbourhood survival often works in Greece: not through smooth systems, but through stubborn citizens who refuse to let files die in drawers.
The 2018 Presidential Decree—and the Money Trail
After years of file transfers between ministries and “a lot of struggle,” a Presidential Decree was issued in July 2018, approving the revised plan and the regeneration study. Funding came later.
Choupas claims the necessary funds were secured only at the end of Mayor Lambrinos’ term, and only after intense pressure, through the Sustainable Development programme.
He even mentioned staging what he calls an “invasion” of the Municipal Council. This image tells you exactly how much civic energy it took to get this far.
The total funding package is €13 million, allocated approximately as follows:
- €7 million for the regeneration of Agia Triada
- ~€1.5 million for Delimarkou Street regeneration (already being implemented)
- €2 million for the Anogeiannakis “Fabrica.”
- ~€4 million for Dermatas
And here comes the key sentence:
“If the project is tendered by the end of summer, we will be talking about a new page for Agia Triada,” Choupas said.
That is the hope, but you can hear the caution behind it.
Why This Matters to Tourism
Agia Triada is not sold as a “tourist attraction,” but tourists do not always follow brochures. They wander. They explore. They enter neighbourhoods looking for the “real Heraklion,” the gritty, unpolished version beyond the postcard.
And when historic neighbourhoods fall into abandonment, tourism does not bring charm—it brings risk. A visitor walking through a decaying area does not think, “Ah, complex administrative delays.”
They think: “Is this safe?” “Why is this so neglected?” “Why does nobody care?”
This is why regeneration is not cosmetic. It is not a luxury. It is urban safety, public health, and basic dignity—for locals first, and for the city’s reputation second.
Agia Triada deserves better than to become a headline only when tragedy forces the city to look. The buildings are not just ruins. They are a warning.
And if Heraklion truly wants to “upgrade,” the upgrade is not another slogan. It is getting this project tendered, funded, and built—with urgency, transparency, and results.
Because a neighbourhood should not have to bury someone to get attention.
