The Governor of Crete, Stavros Arnaoutakis, highlighted the strategic approach of the Region of Crete to promote its cultural heritage and integrate it into modern life as a driver of development, during his speech at the opening of the architectural exhibition Intelligens Historica held at the Basilica of Saint Mark in Heraklion.
The exhibition, hosted at the Heraklion Municipal Art Gallery until January 24, 2026, presents proposals from the Technical University of Crete for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the Venetian shipyards in Heraklion and Chania. These proposals were showcased at the Greek Pavilion during the 19th Venice Architecture Biennale.
Progress of the Shipyards Projects
Governor Arnaoutakis emphasized that managing cultural heritage is both a major challenge and a strategic priority for the Region, aiming at economic and tourism development. He provided updates on the projects in the two major cities of Crete:
The Chania shipyard project is ready to move into the implementation phase.
For the Heraklion shipyards, a new phase has started with the signing of a Programmatic Cultural Development Agreement involving the Ministry of Culture, the Municipality of Heraklion, and the Organization for Cultural Resources Management and Development.
Arnaoutakis highlighted a 10 million funding allocation from the Regional Program for the Heraklion shipyards. Together with the Chania project, this creates the basis for a comprehensive cultural complex in Crete, functioning both as a modern public infrastructure and as a tourism attraction.
Exhibition and Contributors
The event was attended by Efthymios Bakoyannis, Secretary General for Spatial Planning and Urban Environment at the Ministry of Environment & Energy and Greeces National Commissioner to the Biennale, and by Rena Papadaki, Deputy Mayor for Culture representing the Mayor of Heraklion, Alexis Kallokairinos.
Governor Arnaoutakis congratulated the exhibition team, including:
Professor Nikos Skoutelis, Technical University of Crete
Associate Professor Elisabetta Molteni, Ca Foscari University of Venice
Assistant Professor Klemi Aslanidi, Technical University of Crete
Architects Antonis Karamitros and Anna Tsitoni
The Intelligens Historica exhibition explores the concept of intelligence (Intelligens) in relation to the natural and built environment, showcasing the methodology behind the twin adaptive reuse studies of the Venetian shipyards. The exhibition is under the auspices of the Ministry of Environment & Energy and co-funded by the European Union (ESPA 2021-2027).
