Aptera by the Greek ministry of culture

April 2008

The Greek Ministry of culture has published a leaflet on the ancient city of Aptera. The leaflet is in Greek as well as in English and it is available free of charge from the archaeology guard by the main entrance to the ancient site (By the monastery). The English version of the leaflet is available on a PDF format here. (Aptera by the Greek ministry of culture - 10.2Mbyte)

The ancient theater of Aptera

July 2006
Just a hundred meters south-west from where Saint John’s monastery stands lies a treasure unseen by many for centuries, hidden under a few feet of soil. 

Only a few have heard about it and even fewer have seen it. From today, I belong to the few who have had the privilege of being there, seeing it, touching it, admiring it.

All the credit goes to archaeologist Mrs. Maria Adreadaki Vlazaki and her team who, with very limited resources, have recently began excavating the plot where the theater was pinpointed by the elderly of the village, as well as old maps and manuscripts.

Currently just two of the top rows of the theater have been unearthed. Some small but precise digs have also been made to the lower part of the theater to establish the perimeter and its scale.

A significant number of ancient curved stones have been removed from the site over the centuries. However, all this is about to change now thanks to Mrs. Maria Adreadaki Vlazaki and her team. Sources close to the editor said that Mrs. Vlazaki is trying to secure the funds for the whole excavation of the site from the Greek ministry of Culture and the European Union.

I will closely follow the progress of the excavations and I will update you as new findings come to light.

The Editor 
P.N.: Kindly note the site is currently fenced off and is not accessible to visitors.