The airport is expected to be the second largest in Greece when it opens.
And archaeological discovery in Crete It baffles experts and could hinder the construction of a major airport. The round stone building was discovered by archaeologists at the place where It was planned to build the radar station at the new Greek airport.
The original purpose of the building baffles experts. “It is possible that it was periodically used for ritual ceremonies in which food, wine and, perhaps, offerings were consumed,” stated the Greek Ministry of Culture.
It has been decided that the discovery will not prevent the construction of the airport. The Greek Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, committed to preserve the find and look for another location for the radar station.
“We all understand the value and importance of cultural heritage… as well as the growth potential” of the new airport project, says Mendoni, who is an archaeologist.
The airport of Cretascheduled to open in 2027, will replace Greece’s second largest airport, Heraklion, and is designed to accommodate up to 18 million travelers per year.
It is one of the 35 archaeological finds at the site.
The Greek Ministry of Culture declared this week that the structure is a “unique and extremely interesting find” of the Minoan civilization of Cretefamous for its sumptuous palaces, its extravagant art and its enigmatic writing system.
It is not the first discovery at the airport site. Until now, at least 35 other archaeological sites have been discovered during the works on the new Kastelli airport and its road connections, according to the ministry.
At the end of the last century, during the construction works of the International Airport of Athens A fortified hilltop settlement from the 3rd millennium BC was excavated and destroyed.
Unique and very interesting find
The ruins of the labyrinthine 1,800 square meter building, which from above looks like an enormous car wheel, came to light in a recent archaeological excavation. The place was intended for a radar station for a new airport under construction near the city of Kastelli.
Archaeologists still They don’t know what the structure on top of the hill was for.. Excavation is still going on and no Minoan parallels are known. At the moment, experts speculate on the possibility that he had a ritual or religious function.
Surrounded by eight stepped stone walls up to 1.7 meters high, the interior structure was divided into smaller interconnected spaces and may have had a shallow conical roof.
According to the Ministry’s statement, it does not appear to have been a home, and among the findings inside there is a large amount of animal bones.
“Its size, architectural layout and careful construction required considerable manpower, specialized knowledge and strong central administration,” he says, adding that it was clearly some type of communal building that stood out throughout the area.
According to the Ministry, the building was mainly used between 2000 and 1700 BC and was founded around the time when the first palaces of Crete, including those of Knossos and Faistos. Some of its features are comparable to those of Minoan beehive tombs with stepped conical roofs and burial mounds from other areas of Greece.
