- A new open-air exhibition was launched at Saint George Gate in Heraklion.
- Features 19 large-scale digital reproductions from the Municipal Gallery collection.
- Each artwork includes a QR code linking visitors to the full digital archive.
- Part of the Heraklion Walls Festival cultural programme.
- More exhibitions planned across the Venetian Walls in 2026.
Walking along the Venetian Walls of Heraklion has always meant moving through history. Now, the route is slowly becoming something else as well — a place where the city’s artistic memory appears along the stones.
At the recently restored Saint George Gate, visitors can now encounter the first exhibition in a new series organised by the Municipal Gallery of Heraklion. Nineteen large-scale digital reproductions from the gallery’s collection have been installed inside the historic gate, turning the passageway into an unexpected gallery space.
The exhibition was visited this week by Heraklion’s mayor, Alexis Kalokairinos, accompanied by Deputy Mayor for Culture Rena Papadaki-Skalidi and the president of the city’s First Municipal Community, Theodosia Angelidakaki.
A Gallery Hidden in a Gate
Rather than presenting the original paintings, the exhibition uses high-resolution digital reproductions printed at a large scale. The format allows visitors to see details that might otherwise remain unnoticed when viewing the works in traditional gallery settings.
Each image also includes a QR code that gives visitors immediate digital access to the Municipal Gallery’s collection. With a quick scan, the artwork expands from wall to screen, revealing additional information about the artist and the piece itself.
The exhibition brings together works by a wide range of Cretan artists, including:
- Charis Vailakis
- Nikos Viskadourakis
- Aristidis Vlassis
- Giorgos Th. Georgiadis
- Nikos Georgiadis
- Eleni Karagianni
- Dimitrios Kokotsis
- Giorgos Manousakis
- Evangelos Markogiannakis
- Giannis Migadis
- Nikolaos Santorinaios
- Takis Sideris
- Vasilis Solidakis
- Alekos Tsakountakis
- Thomas Fanourakis
- Nikos Fotakis
Together, their work forms part of the evolving visual record of modern Crete.
A Passage Reopened
The exhibition also marks another chapter in the gradual revival of the Venetian Walls themselves.
Saint George Gate was restored through a Cultural Development Program Agreement signed by the Municipality of Heraklion, the Greek Ministry of Culture, and the Region of Crete.
Since December 2025, the gate has reopened to pedestrians, serving as a passage linking Liberty Square with Ikarou Avenue. It operates daily from 08:00 to 22:00, with on-site supervision.
For residents, the reopening restored a historical route across the city. For visitors, it added another accessible corner of the Venetian fortifications to explore.
From Walkway to Cultural Route
The exhibition is part of the broader Walls Festival of Heraklion. This initiative gradually turns sections of the Venetian Walls into cultural spaces rather than simply historical structures.
The plan is to install similar exhibitions along the pedestrian paths and interior gates of the fortifications. By installing large-scale reproductions in various locations, the city hopes to create an open-air gallery spanning the walls themselves.
In practical terms, that means the simple act of walking along the fortifications becomes something richer.
A stroll becomes a cultural route.
A Different Way to Encounter the Collection
For many visitors, museums are places entered deliberately, with a ticket and a schedule. The project along the Venetian Walls turns that logic inside out.
Art appears along the path, waiting for the passerby rather than the other way around.
More exhibitions are planned throughout 2026, gradually expanding the concept across additional sections of the walls. If the plan unfolds as intended, the Venetian fortifications will become not only one of Heraklion’s most important historical landmarks, but also one of its most unusual exhibition spaces.
And for those walking through the old gates of the city, the experience will no longer be only about the past.
It will also be about the art that grew from it.
