According to the Greek Ministry of Development and Investment, Sitia’s Toplou Monastery will receive much needed upgrades in the coming months.
As part of the program “Competitiveness, Entrepreneurship and Innovation 2014-2020” the monastery will receive the be renovated as follows:
- The restoration and preservation of the Bell tower
- Lightning protection of the Bell tower both for the building, and for the safety of visitors
- And preliminary work on creating accessibility for people with mobility problems
The overall project is eligible for some €1,101,000, according to the news from News Hub Greece.
This 15th-century monastery was originally called Panagia Akrotiriani (Virgin Mary of the Cape), after the nearby Sidero cape. One of the most important monasteries in Crete, Toplou attracts thousands of tourists each year. The monastery is famous in modern times for its olive groves, vineyards, gardens, and for an extraordinary winemaking tradition.
The coming NSRF funding package benign sought by Greece is ‘unprecedented’ according to officials. The Greek Prime Minister and the Minister of Development presented the new NSRF worth € 26.2 billion in a teleconference with the EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.