- Heraklion reclaimed operational control of the Venetian Walls after negotiations and a 17.5-year separation.
- A ten-year agreement, renewable, covers all aspects of care, restoration, and public integration.
- Last year’s Walls Festival marked a turning point, breathing life and foot traffic into the site.
- City plans encompass public events, regular use, and international promotion—with a focus on attracting tourists.
- Conservation includes all main features: plazas, galleries, bastions, fortifications, and the often-overlooked moat.
- Every step is mapped in the official agreement; the era of improvisation is officially over.
Heraklion’s Stone Cold Comeback
Heraklion doesn’t do things by halves. Not when it comes to massive fortifications left behind by Venetians, anyway. On May 30, 2025, in a performance that would humble even the most persistent paperwork, the city was handed back its iconic Venetian Walls by the Ministry of Culture. Mayor Alexis Kalokairinos acclaimed the feat: “This is a great moment for Heraklion. The Walls return to the city,” he declared, apparently unaware that the city and the Walls had never really been apart—just separated by bureaucracy.
Of course, nothing monumental happens because someone remembers where they left their keys. According to Kalokairinos, it took 17 and a half years for the return, which roughly matches the geological timescale typically required for public works in Greece. Still, no one can say the Mayor doesn’t have a plan. The ten-year framework encompasses not just conservation but also integrating the Walls into daily life, cultural events, and even sports. “The framework for the handover is a ten-year agreement with an option for renewal. It’s a complete plan for protection, restoration, enhancement, and finally, making the Walls part of social life,” he said.
Last year’s experimental—and successful—Walls Festival was the first shot fired in this grand liberation campaign. According to Kalokairinos, “The Walls are a treasure for Heraklion. A treasure that was mostly hidden, remote, silent, and now steps out to invite us in.” With this, the Mayor expressed his oddly poetic dream of Walls packed with joggers, school trips, and the odd confused tourist.
And that’s the point, at least officially. “It’s a challenge to blend the Walls into city life, daily routine, and activities that bring together culture, learning, and sports,” Kalokairinos remarked. The Mayor promises a new institutional structure for organising events, complete with Ministry funding, and naturally hopes for global recognition. Overstating? Only slightly. “This opens the way for Heraklion to bolster its international image, because clearly, that’s something we seek,” he added, perhaps eyeing eager tourists.
Crumbling Stones, Grand Designs
Restoring medieval infrastructure is never as simple as dusting it off and declaring victory. Kalokairinos insists the municipal strategy targets every square meter, from sunken firing points to leafy patches of moat where bored ducks outnumber visitors. “This activity follows a program that includes conservation and use of the whole bastion system. Ongoing work has covered the main level, the Makasi Gallery has its contractor, and more studies remain on our desks,” he revealed with an air somewhere between pride and weary resignation.
The setup includes not just the walls themselves but plazas, galleries, bastions, counter-guards, moats, and anything else a Venetian defence planner drew on a napkin. “We want to highlight every part of the Walls,” the Mayor noted. “Besides the main walkway, there are ten lower plazas, four city galleries, nine military galleries, seven bastions, and four counter-guards worth international attention. These all need to operate together for daily use and special events. And let’s not forget the Moat, bigger than most people think. Parts of it are spectacularly beautiful.”
Every detail, he says, made it into the official contract. The old piecemeal approach is out. Now, there are itemised targets, tools, and timelines. “Everything is written out in the program agreement, far more organised than before,” the Mayor claimed, radiating the stern cheerfulness of someone who’s just survived a marathon committee meeting.
A Glimmer of Anticipation
Kalokairinos, hero of the hour, makes his appreciation clear. “I must begin with the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, who believed in this and led the effort. Her contribution was decisive,” he shared. On the list of gratitude: Stavros Arnaoutakis from the regional government, Nikoletta Divari-Valakou (president of the Organization for Cultural Resources), City Councilors, technical staff, and especially Old Town office personnel Evi Papadaki and Kallia Nikolidaki. The Mayor, weary but undefeated, even thanks his special advisors Rita Chaireti and Spyros Dokianakis—undoubtedly for weathering every last late-night phone call.
For once, the fine print matters. Activation now moves to Greece’s Audit Court, after which a Strategic Committee, co-chaired by the Minister of Culture and the Mayor, and a Monitoring Committee, led by the Mayor himself, will take over. Heraklion’s Venetian Walls—silent, sturdy, and for the last generation, mostly sidelined—are about to see their second act, complete with festivals, restoration squads, and possibly a few more brochures in German.