Yet again, the rain has caused damage to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. After a recent downpour, the ceiling of Room 3 started leaking and rainwater began to drip on the exhibits. There was uproar until the guards could find a way to protect the valuable and fragile exhibits. Room 3 houses the famous Festos Disk and the egg-shell Kamares ware, so called because the vessels are extremely finely made, demonstrating the surprisingly advanced techniques used in Minoan Crete.
It should be noted that a similar problem was observed at the Archaeological Museum about a year ago. Part of the ceiling collapsed after heavy rain, damaging pottery vessels from the Minoan Palace of Zakros. The Museum is housed in a building dating from the 1950s. Maintenance and extension work began in 2000 but is still under way.
Somebody needs to remind the people in charge of the ancient Greek saying, “To commit the same sin twice is not the sign of a wise man”, as they seem to have learned nothing from past problems, now repeated in exactly the same way. One also wonders how a museum with such a huge amount of revenue from thousands of tourists each year can possibly be at risk from such indifference and neglect..