The project was announced back in 2021 by Culture Minister Lina Medoni, as reported by the Greek Reporter. The cable car will be financed by the European Recovery and Resilience Fund (RRF).

According to Medoni, the castle town on an 800 metre long cliff is a special residential and monumental complex: the populated lower town and the archaeological site of the upper town coexist there.

With the cable car, Monemvasia wants to make the upper town accessible to everyone and connect Ano Poli and St Sophia to the lower town.

St Sophia is a church that was built in the 7th century and has been restored. A road and a stone bridge lead to the castle gate and the main entrance to the castle town. From the summit, you can enjoy an unrestricted view of the lower town.

Making cultural heritage accessible

The stone walls of the fortress at the summit have protected the town from invaders throughout its history. The cable car station is to be built in front of the walls. Currently, however, the historic upper town can only be reached on foot via a narrow path, as no vehicles can drive through the cobbled castle gate. This means that it is not barrier-free and accessible to all, and the project aims to change this. It will also enable the emergency services to reach the top of the castle town more quickly for operations. The cable car project has a budget of 6.8 million euros.