O Ministry of Culturethrough Ephorate of Antiquities of the City of AthensAs part of its policy of modernizing the services provided to visitors to the archaeological sites of Athens and enhancing their experience, it is creating a new entry-exit portal Kerameikouin the street of the Sacred Bodiesin front of the street Dipylum.
In place of the semi-ruined buildings, expropriated by the Ministry of Culture, a multifunctional complex is being created, which brings together public service functions that, until now, were absent from Kerameikos: a refreshment café, a stand-alone shop, a special space for lectures, educational programs and exhibitions, and new sanitary facilities.
The building, with an area of 240 m2, is designed to provide optimal service to visitors with mobility difficulties. The project is financed by Recovery Fund.
The Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni stated: “The functional and aesthetic modernisation of the Kerameikos archaeological site is necessary and serves our policy of better service and improving the visitor experience at this unique site. The new entrance and exit gate on Agioi Asomatos Street not only facilitates the movement and access of visitors to the archaeological site. It creates the conditions for a longer stay of visitors at the archaeological site and in particular for the participation of people with disabilities, the elderly and families, since the new building complex incorporates the necessary functions, following the architectural physiognomy of the existing buildings and enhancing the sense of neighbourhood in this part of the city, which is gradually disappearing. At the same time, Agioi Asomata Street is being modernised, as the semi-ruined buildings currently existing are removed or integrated into the new construction. In this way, the Ministry of Culture contributes to the requalification of this part of the city, creating conditions for its development.”
The previously circular route of the visit, with entry and exit via the Ermou pavement, will no longer be a one-way street. A new point of interest has been created at the eastern edge of the archaeological site, where the – unknown to many – Roman cemetery is located.
According to the study, which received a positive opinion from the Central Archaeological Council, some of the most important funerary monuments of the Kerameikos from the Roman period, such as the ornate sarcophagus of Philotera, made of Pentelic marble, will be exposed to the public, in the new site that is being formed.
At the same time, the possibility of operating the new facilities independently of the opening hours of the archaeological site, the widening of the promenade of Agios Asomatas Street, with the relocation of the KTEL bus stop, the interconnection of Kerameikos through the new gate, with nearby points of cultural interest, such as .x. the Public Signal, the Ancient Agora, the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art update the urban fabric at the specific point of the historic center, forming a modern cultural landmark compatible with and worthy of the archaeological site of Ceramics and its importance.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Diligence:George Koulouvaris
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