Castle of Monemvasia, GREECE
The Castle of Monemvasia is perched on a massive limestone rock with steep cliffs, projecting from the south-eastern coast of the Peloponnese, Greece. The rock is connected to the mainland by an isthmus and a bridge; this unique form provides for a double harbour which has supported Monemvasia’s prosperity from Medieval to Modern periods.
The Upper Town, on a flat plateau atop the rock, was fortified and inhabited until 1690. Today, the fortifications and a few well-preserved monuments remain, including a 12th century church, a gate complex, two private houses and several cisterns. There are also ruins of houses and a network of historic paths. The Lower Town, developed on a strip of land on the foot of the rock, is also protected by a fortification circuit. With structures from the Byzantine to modern times, Monemvasia has attracted visitors from all around the world; the uniqueness of its site has been an inspiration for many artists.
Since the 1960s, the castle as well as the isthmus and the bridge have been protected by several regulations in order to safeguard the original structures, preserve the original style of the settlement and respect the architectural rules of the Castle of Monemvasia.
During the 1970s Monemvasia began to be a tourist destination, and while until then personal interest and individual care ensured the protection of the settlement, today the significant increase in tourist interest and the expansion of investment and business interest puts the authentic character of the historical ensemble in absolute danger. The few shops of the Lower Town are being converted into catering and leisure centres, while numerous houses are being converted into accommodation.
The main threat for Monemvasia currently lies in a plan for a cable car promoted by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Monemvasia. According to ELLINIKI ETAIRIA – Society for the Environment and Cultural Heritage, which nominated the Castle of Monemvasia to the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2025, the cable car project clearly risks diminishing the environmental and cultural value of the overall site, depreciating the experience of visitors, and threatening the visual integrity of the landscape. The available “Study of Environmental Repercussions” lacks clarity and detail on the project’s impact on fauna and flora, on noise pollution and traffic congestion; overall, the project seems to be more inspired by profit-making than accessibility considerations, although the project was included in a programme concerning the access of disabled people.
The threat posed by the cable car project has raised major concerns and has attracted public statements and press releases by a series of institutions, including ICOMOS, The Association of Greek Archaeologists and Monumenta. Numerous institutions and individuals have undertaken, or are planning to undertake, a range of actions to enable the local community of Monemvasia, the municipality, the Greek state, and international audiences to recognise the threat posed by the cable car project to both the environment and the cultural heritage of the Castle of Monemvasia.
Elliniki Etairia instead proposes to substitute the plan for a cable car with a plan for a passenger lift. An industrial lift was built in Monemvasia a decade ago to facilitate restoration works on the Upper Town; a passenger friendly version of it would promote the desired improvement to accessibility of the Upper Town. This should be combined by studies in consultation with the local population, more reliance on the Management Plan for the Castle of Monemvasia, documenting priorities and also controversies, promoting ex ante detailed studies on the environmental and cultural impact, and promoting a broader dialogue on the accessibility of sites of cultural and environmental significance with policy-makers in Greece.
The Advisory Panel of the 7 Most Endangered Programme decided to include the Castle of Monemvasia in the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2025 “not only because it recognises the clear problem and the urgency of immediate actions to be taken, but because it seizes the opportunity to explore and highlight new, more appropriate and sustainable proposals with a broader scope internationally”.