The ministry is doing a systematic work for the restoration of all the monuments of the country, regardless of their time period, stressed the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, in response to a topical question by a member of the South West parliamentary group, Fotini Pipili, on the «Conservation works of the Ottoman Baths in the Upper City of Kyparissia».
The Minister, on the projects relating to the protection, maintenance, restoration and promotion of important monuments dating back to the Ottoman period, said that these have been included in programmes funded either from national resources or in co-financed programmes. In total, since 2000, more than 50 million euros have been invested in the restoration and promotion of some 170 monuments of the Ottoman period, such as mosques, mosques, mosques, mosques, tequets, turrets, mausoleums, without distinction.
Today, the minister said, we have fourteen ongoing projects on Ottoman monuments, included in the current NSRF for the period 2014-2021, with a total budget of about 8.5 million euros, concerning the Bayezid Mosque in Didymoteicho, the Arap Mosque in Drama, the Imaret in Komotini, the Fortress of Kale in Ierapetra, Crete, the Bezesteini in Larissa, the Vizir Mosque in Nafpaktos, the Ottoman castles of Igoumenitsa, the restoration of the Ottoman castles of Igoumenitsa, Vonitsa, Nafpaktos, the Upper Castle of Mytilene, the restoration of the Ottoman house in Kato Castle, the Minaret in the Metropolis of Veroia, the Teke of Hassan Baba in Tempi, the restoration of the Ottoman bath in the Castle of Ioannina.
In addition, in Recovery Fund five projects with a budget of 5,250,000 euros have already been included for the network of castles from Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire, including the castle of Kiafa, Ioannina, Parga, the restoration of the Bey Hammam, the Paradise Baths in Thessaloniki, the restoration of the Koursum Mosque in Kastoria, the Orta Mosque in Veroia, the Velide Mosque in the city of Mytilene. At the same time, a number of other studies are maturing, such as the Castle of Aslan and the Itz Kale in the Castle of Ioannina.
Regarding the Ottoman bath in Ano Poli of Kyparissia, he said that it was discovered on a private plot of land. Η Ephorate of Antiquities, either it should proceed to its expropriation, or to its inclusion in the hotel unit under construction as a monument and exhibition space to be visited. According to the recommendations of the competent services of the Ministry and the opinion of the KAS, it was decided to erect the new building and at the same time the restoration of the monument, with its conversion into a cultural events venue. The owner had the obligation to prepare the study and submit it to the services of the Ministry of Culture. In the meantime, however, the ownership has changed and we are now in the phase where the submission of the study by the new owners is expected.
The Minister also estimated that within the year the completion of the large volume on Ottoman monuments in our country will be completed with new entries and the translation into English.
MP Fotini Pipili, from her side, pointed out that the protection shown by the Greek State for the Ottoman monuments, at the same time emerges as a very big diplomatic weapon in the constant pressure from the side of neighboring Turkey, which constantly complains to UNESCO, the Council of Europe and other global fora, that Greece allegedly does not care about the Islamic monuments and complains that we are demolishing them. The MP, in her capacity as Vice-Chairman of the Culture Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said that five months ago, a Turkish national living in Smyrna had the nerve to send a letter to the Culture Committee of the Council of Europe, saying that he was the President of the Association of Turkish Dodecanese in Rhodes and Kos and accused our country of not maintaining the Ottoman monuments.
