Hellenic President Sakellaropoulou and PM Mitsotakis tour ancient findings at Thessaloniki’s Venizelos metro station
The President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed their admiration for the archaeological site and the archaeological findings at the Venizelos station of Thessaloniki Metro, after the completion of their tour by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni, on Friday afternoon.
“It’s unbelievable,” Sakellaropoulou said. “You did something unique,” Mitsotakis said for his part. Sakellaropoulou and Mitsotakis gave warm congratulations to those who worked to produce this unique result, they said.
PM Mitsotakis: Metro station highlights Thessaloniki’s cultural wealth
Mitsotakis emphasised that the project is a unique technical achievement that showcases Thessaloniki’s cultural richness. He expressed confidence that it will transform the city’s landscape.
“I believe that starting Saturday, Thessaloniki residents will have the chance to experience this station and recognize the tremendous effort by all involved to ensure the city can have both ancient heritage and a modern Metro,” Mitsotakis said. He acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the Metro’s long history, but added, “Today, we look to the future, and from tomorrow, this remarkable project will be delivered to the citizens.”
Sakellaropoulou and Mitsotakis walked along the Roman Decumanus Maximous Avenue of Thessaloniki, as the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni gave them a guided tour, providing information about the activities of the inhabitants of that era. The tour took in the archaeological site, which covers an area of 1,260 square metres, which was excavated, studied, temporarily detached, preserved and re-installed.
“These are the underlying phases of Roman and Hellenistic Thessaloniki.
Today at Venizelos Station we have a panorama of the oldest building phases of Thessaloniki from Hellenistic times, documenting the foundation of Thessaloniki by Cassander in 316 BC and its development in the lowlands and towards the sea,” the Minister of Culture said in her introduction.
Mendoni said in her tour that the posting and repositioning of 3,500 square meters of antiquities is the first time that the archaeological site is being done and added that the archaeological site is organically integrated into the daily life of citizens. She stressed that the execution of the project was exemplary, as it was carried out in full compliance with international standards and the existing archaeological legislation. He stressed that from now on, every passenger entering the metro will come into direct contact with the city’s long history.
President Sakellaropoulou arrived at Venizelos station with her partner Pavlos Kotsonis and the PM Mitsotakis with his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotakis. There they were greeted by the Ministers of Infrastructure and Transport Christos Staikouras, Culture Lina Mendoni and the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Nikos Tachias.
Present at the tour were the Minister of Tourism Olga Kefalogianni, the Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance Nikos Papathanasis, the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia and new EU Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas, the Mayor of Thessaloniki Stelios Angeloudis and the former Mayor Sotiris Kouvelas who first proposed the construction of a light metro in 1986. Among the dignitaries at Venizelos station was the Deputy Minister of Interior (Macedonia and Thrace) Κostas Gioulekas.
Source: ΑNA – MPA
