Aegean civilizations

The Museum of Cycladic Art has launched Cycladic Identity, an initiative to preserve and highlight the character of Greece's famous island cluster and attract donations and sponsorships, with which it will support organizations active in the islands with programs related to culture, biodiversity and intangible cultural heritage.

The Central Archaeological Council is on the cusp of completing the candidacy file for the inclusion of Crete's Minoan-era ancient palaces of Zakros, Knossos, Phaistos, Malia, Zominthos and Kydonia in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The airline's flights to Crete will land in the capital Heraklion

With the beginning of the new tourist season and the warmer days, Bulgaria Air will delight all its passengers with direct flights to one of the most tempting Greek destinations, where the days are long, warm and salty, and the mood - exotic.

One of the most important archeological sites in the whole Peloponnese, the Mycenaean palace of Nestor, is located near the town of Trifylia, a Mediterranean town in Messinia.

Archaeologists working on the small Zominthos plateau in the foothills of Mount Psiloritis on Crete discovered a tablet inscribed in Linear A - a writing system used by the ancient Minoans from around 1800 to 1450 BCE - in what was once an archive of a building complex, during this season's excavations. The tablet was used for accounting purposes.

[Culture Ministry via ANA-MPA]

Major Greek museums and archaeological sites will remain open longer as of April 1, with the schedule introduced gradually to other areas as more seasonal staff is hired over the next month, the Ministry of Culture said on Tuesday.
The following museums and sites will extend their opening hours as of April 1 (daily):
- Acropolis and Knossos palace will be open 08:00 - 18:00

The results of a 10-year study by British linguist Gareth Owens and Oxford University phonetics professor John Coleman to decipher the famously enigmatic Phaistos Disk of Crete will be presented at Cambridge University on February 3 in a lecture titled "From Linear B to the Phaistos Disk."

Archaeologists have raised the alarm over the prospect that some of the country's most important monuments, such as the Knossos Palace complex on the island of Crete and the Venetian Walls of its capital Iraklio have not been exempted from inclusion in the Hellenic Corporation of Assets and Participations (EESYP).

The Culture Ministry said on Friday it will submit the final nomination file to UNESCO at the end of the month seeking the declaration of Crete's Spinalonga islet, with its impressive 16th century Venetian fortress, a World Heritage Site.

A visitor walks past display cases at the press opening of the Museum of Cycladic Art's exhibition 'Crete - Emerging Cities: Aptera, Eleutherna, Knossos,' in Athens, on Wednesday. Showcasing some 500 artifacts dating from Neolithic times to the Byzantine era, this is the first time so many exhibits have left the island for a temporary show.