Restoration of Guora Gate

During the winter, restoration of the Guora Gate - “Megali Porta” will take place. Up until recently, the ‘Big Door’ as a monument has been somewhat of a poor relation in terms of restoration and repair. The Guora Gate is the only remaining part of the Venetian fortifications that were constructed between 1540 and 1570. The gate stands at the Square of the Four Martyrs and leads to Ethniki Antistaseon, commonly known as ‘Market Street’. During the Venetian Period the gate was the main entrance to the town, forming part of a fortified wall which ran from the beach at Plateia Iroon in the East to Plateia Vardinoyianni in the West, then on to the Fortezza.
According to Council spokesman Mr Alefantinos, the necessary permission has already been obtained from the archaeological department, who will carry out the restoration. Work is expected to take until February with breaks for the festive season to minimise initial disruption to shopkeepers..

It has been agreed with local householders that adjacent balconies will be cut back so that the gate can be shown off to its best advantage.
Currently, during business hours the arches of the gate are frequently buried under tacky bric-a-brac and household goods from neighbouring shops. After the restoration has taken place, local citizens will be required to respect the monument and tradespeople will be obliged to keep it free from clutter. As a spokesperson from the Council said: “It would have been somewhat hypocritical to ask locals to respect the monument beforehand when we ourselves have been neglecting it for so many years. If this represents a general shift in attitude towards protecting Rethymnon ‘s heritage, the this is an encouraging sign.

Sporting Life (as we know it)

December. Sport. Rethymnon. Unfortunately the words ‘eye’ ‘ball’ and ‘off’ spring to mind. We are hoping that this is just a temporary glitch due to people writing letters to Santa (and if the Asteras goalkeeper is reading this, you can find out where to post your letter to Santa on the next page).
First, let’s kick the ball into touch and talk about footie (generally better to face up to problems, rather than avoiding them). Well it’s not all bad. We have won three matches and drawn two. Unfortunately we also seem to have lost four matches, and are too close to the wrong half of the table for comfort. Predictions for future fortunes are difficult right now in any case, as the Β and Γ Division football has been suspended for the time being. This is apparently due to money issues with the Superleague, who are said to owe over two million euros.

Now that therapy has empowered us, we can deal with the basketball. Well we have won one match Oh, did I fail to mention it? As luck would have it, our basketball team has managed to lose five games, too. Never mind.
We now have a new (Cretan) basketball coach Argiris Pethoulakis, who doesn’t seem to have helped that much so far. But it’s a game of two halves. Well, actually it isn’t come to think of it if you’re talking about basketball. It’s a game of four quarters, time out, slam dunk and cheerleaders. Not to worry, we’ll get there eventually.

To cope with the volleyball scenario requires inner strength rarely achieved by even the sagest of gurus. If you’re not a Tibetan monk, I suggest you look away now if you don’t want to know the score. OK, you asked for it. Our local teams have started this season the same way they did last season (this really is all you need to know), heading in Titanic style towards the iceberg of ignominy.
But, as we all know, it’s never over until the fat lady sings. And after everyone has had their fill of Christmas cheer and Epiphany bonhomie, who knows?
We really hope you all have better luck next year, chaps and thanks for keeping us entertained in the meantime!