- The saga continues with the installation of temporary fencing around the Portara monument, following the response of the Ministry of Culture to yesterday’s announcement by the municipality of Naxos and the Small Cyclades.
The ministry explains that, in accordance with the decision, the fence will be removed on the date already announced by the ministry, i.e. September 27, 2025.
The announcement
The announcement reads as follows:
“Following the well-known incident of tourist misconduct that took place on July 29, 2025, against the monument of the Temple of Apollo (Portara) on the islet of Palatia, Naxos, the Ministry of Culture, through the competent Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades, installed, as expressly required by the archaeological law (Law 4858/2021, Article 3), a lightweight fence 1.5 m high around the monument for its immediate protection, for the temporary period until September 27, 2025, when a permanent protective fence will be erected, following the opinion of the Central Archaeological Council.
The Mayor of Naxos, personally and without prior or subsequent approval of the Municipal Committee, reported as illegal the archaeologists of the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Cyclades of the Ministry of Culture, who were arrested and taken to the police station, where they were fingerprinted and charged. Subsequently, the Municipality appealed to the Court of First Instance of Naxos, completely ignoring the fact that this was a temporary measure, which would be removed on September 27, 2025.2025, it claimed that the fence was damaging the “personality” of the municipality and requested that the Ministry of Culture be ordered to remove the fence immediately and not to take any similar protective measures. This was despite the fact that a second incident of damage to the monument had already been reported, which the Municipality of Naxos also failed to mention.
Following the submission to the Court, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, of all the documents substantiating the above omissions by the Municipality, today, 20.8.2025, the President of the Court of First Instance of Naxos issued a decision according to which the disputed fence will remain in place, exactly as it is, and will be removed on 27.9.2025, i.e. exactly on the date on which the Ministry of Culture had previously decided to remove and replace the temporary fence in question with a permanent protective fence around the archaeological site of Portara.
Given that the Municipality’s request was for the IMMEDIATE removal of the fence, it is clear that the statements made by the head of the Municipal Authority and related press reports about the outcome of the case in favor of the Municipality do not correspond to reality”.
