Gryspolakis’ response to the closed doors of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion – What happens to the opening hours

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of AMI, Ioakeim Gryspolakis, professor emeritus of the Technical University of Crete, sent an answer regarding the opening hours and in general the operation of the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, regarding a report that refers to the complaints of tourists who visit the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion after 4 pm, but face closed doors. And this is because they do not know that the opening hours during this period are until 3:30 in the afternoon on some days of the week and not until 8:00 in the evening, as stated in various older forms that they have in their hands.

The president of the Archaeological Museum attributes the malfunction in the schedule to the fact that the five npdd museums, among which is the Heraklion one, are not yet fully operational in their new form.

In more detail, Mr. Gryspolakis’ answer is as follows:

“Because various “news” related to the operation of the museum are written and distributed, we felt that we owe a complete information as possible to both the local community and the professionals, who are active in the field of tourism.

The Archaeological Museum of Heraklion (AMH) operated until April 13, 2023 as a directorate, subordinated – like two hundred and ten additional museums scattered throughout the Territory – to the General Directorate of Antiquities & Cultural Heritage of the YPPO. The consequence of this was that all requests for recruitment of the necessary staff, maintenance of building facilities, purchases of instruments and upgrading of staff and facilities were based on the priorities set by the General Directorate.

With Law 5021/2023, five of the country’s museums were upgraded from directorates to Legal Entities under Public Law (NPDD), i.e. to organizations self-governed by seven-member boards of directors and general managers. In 2023, they operated, as was natural, through the 2023 budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while they were preparing the budgets and action plans for 2024. It should be noted that the five npdd museums are not yet fully operational in their new form, since the Structure & Operation Organizations have not still complete the control and approval process (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance, CoE), so that they can be forwarded to the PtD and published as Presidential Decrees. This resulted in an additional delay in approving the hiring of the required seasonal custodians for the museum’s twenty-seven (27) exhibition spaces and two (2) out-of-town warehouses. We have already been given forty (40) seasonal guard positions, which have already been advertised, while fifteen (15) people will come before Easter from ODAP to operate the sales office, issue tickets and check them at the entrance. In addition to these, we entrust the cleaning of the museum to an external workshop.

Also, a month ago we visited (chairman of the board and general manager) the association of tourist agents of Crete, while we had a long meeting at our offices, in which representatives of the cruise agencies also participated.

Based on these discussions, we decided that the new opening hours of the museum, after hiring the new guards, will be as follows:

– Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday: 08:00 – 15:00

– Wednesday: 13:30 – 21:30

– Thursday and Sunday: 08:00 – 20:00.

As the new administration of the AMI, we identified the shortcomings and weaknesses of the facilities and its operation and planned the actions to correct, repair and improve the facilities, as well as the application of innovative methods, in order for the new structure of the museum to meet international standards and modern requirements both visitors and researchers as well as societies.

The malfunctions, weaknesses and imperfections that we found were the following:

1. The air conditioning system was installed in 2001, has been working incompletely since 2017 (100% of machine A and 60% of machine B), resulting in complaints from guests, especially in the summer months when the traffic is at zenith. In addition, the existing system is too energy-intensive.

2. The Periodical Exhibition Hall is not accessible from the exhibition building. The visitor must obtain the ticket, exit the museum, follow Xanthoudidou Street and Doukos Beaufort Street in order to enter the hall in question.

3. The AMI Store is located in an inadequate room, which is not visible to museum visitors.

4. The refreshment room is inadequate, it operates in a very small space and is not easily accessible to visitors, while the museum garden has not been fully utilized.

5. The Lecture and Conference Hall lacks good lighting, modern microphone installation, has very poor acoustics and is not isolated from the exhibition areas.

6. The museological presentation of the exhibits needs immediate upgrading, as the information regarding the origin and identity of the exhibits is not presented.

7. The Maintenance Laboratory lacks modern equipment and needs a technological upgrade.

8. The Sales Office is operated by ODAP, as are all the museum sales offices in the country (except for those that were closed, such as the Acropolis Museum, the National Gallery, the EMST).

The actions and planning planned by the Board are as follows:

– Hired a legal advisor and a mechanical engineer, who will oversee all electromechanical installations, in order to prevent malfunctions and damage to the installations.

– He studied the issue of upgrading the energy-consuming and inadequate air conditioning system, decided to replace it with modern technology heat pumps, agreed with the Minister of Culture on the signing of a programming contract at the expense of the Ministry of Education and Culture and commissioned the preparation of an energy upgrade study for the AMI. At the same time, he collaborated with the Regional Governor of Crete and it was agreed that the implementation of the energy upgrade study of AMI will be included in the PEP of Crete 2021-2027.

– With the expiration of the contract of ODAP with the contractor for the operation of the refreshment stand (28-8-2023), the Board of Directors has now taken over the operation, entrusted a contractor with the continuation of its operation and the revenues now come to AMI.

– The inadequacy of the sales office and the refreshment bar prompted us to request the acquisition of the building (former EOT Pavilion), which is located opposite the museum building, in order to operate the New Store in it. After coordinated actions to the government, and especially to the Ministry of Tourism, the Minister of Tourism offered the use of the building, with an area of ​​200 sq.m. on two levels, in AMH.

– The Board of Directors decided and assigned to the School of Architecture and Engineering of the Technical University of Crete the study to solve problems 2, 3, 4 and 5. The solution that will be given is the transfer of the New Store to the building granted to us by the Ministry of Tourism, and the union of the current refreshment bar with the current shop to create a Refreshment – Restaurant, which will operate from an independent entrance, which will be opened towards Doukos Beaufort Street.

– As part of the study, the Mayor of Heraklion agreed to upgrade the square, which borders the AMI and surrounds the building granted by the Ministry of Tourism. The square, which will be created, will aim to unify AMI with the New Store and upgrade the current degraded space.

– Opposite the AMH is the Epigraphic Collection, which is inactive. In collaboration with the Municipality of Heraklion, there will be integration with the AMI building, so that it can be utilized and accessible to visitors.

– In order to operate the New Store under the responsibility of the Board of Directors (and not of ODAP) from November 2024, based on Law 5021/2023, the Board of Directors formed a committee to select vendors with motifs inspired by the frescoes of Knossos, which are exhibited at the AMH, a donation was requested from a private person and today the items for sale are being prepared, which from May will be sold and will bring income and exposure to the museum.

– For the implementation of the above, a 14-month Program Contract is signed between AMI, the Technical University of Crete and the Municipality of Heraklion.

– The upgrade of the Maintenance Laboratory with modern equipment has been included in the 2024 Budget.

– There is an advanced cooperation between the AMI, the ITE, the University of Crete and the Technical University of Crete for the signing of a five-year cooperation memorandum for the modernization of the exhibition method with holograms, the digitization of the exhibits for use in educational programs, the maintenance with modern and innovative methods and the utilization of innovative ideas of students of the two university institutions. The financing of a large amount of the Program Contract is done with the noble sponsorship of a company.

– The extroversion of AMI is a primary issue for the museum. Thus, after the general director’s visit to China last November, it has been agreed to set up an exhibition of Minoan culture in China in 2025. The exhibition will start from the Forbidden City Museum in Beijing and tour to other cities in China.

– We have planned a series of lectures by renowned scientists, related to the topics of archaeology, art history and the preservation of antiquities”.