On the Full Moon and Culture Night, 28 August 2026, from 19:30/20:00 until 23:00/24:00, 126 archaeological sites, historic sites, monuments and museums across the country, under the Ministry of Culture, will welcome visitors with free admission, offering a special opportunity to discover our cultural heritage under the light of the August moon.

Our culture is based on the application of written and unwritten laws in the geographical area where we live, carry out our activities and work. Written laws ensure legal security, while unwritten laws shape social consciousness.

The performance “CRETE OF THE GREAT COMPOSERS” will unfold as a musical tribute to four pillars of Greek culture: Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Giannis Markopoulos and Christos Leontis, all with roots in Crete. Four composers who, although their work travelled to the farthest corners of the world, kept their roots deeply embedded in the soil of the island.

Their melodies, indelibly etched into our collective memory, become a bridge connecting yesterday with today. It is a celebration of the Cretan spirit that nourished their inspiration, offering the audience the opportunity to experience a rare occasion where history, landscape and music become one.

Performers:

• Thanasis Vasilakis
• Stefanos Kouroupakis
• Marios Christonakis
• Sotiris Alexakis
• Apostolos Xyritakis
• Emmanouela Manidaki

The event will be co-organised by the Region of Crete, the Heraklion Ephorate of Antiquities, the Municipality of Gortyna and the Network of Messara Associations.

The concert is dedicated to the memory of Alekos Daskalakis from Apesokari.

In a place such as our region, Messara, which created the first laws and, because of them, the first flourishing civilisations at European and global level, we now have the highest levels of lawlessness and a society in decline.

The creation of laws in ancient Crete evolved from their divine origins and unwritten customs to their recording and systematisation.

The Gortyna Code, known as the “Great Inscription”, was created around 450 BC. It was inscribed on twelve large stone columns on the wall of a public building (today’s Roman Odeon), in order to codify earlier unwritten laws. It is the oldest and most complete surviving written legal code in Europe and the mother of Roman Law and, later, of today’s European Law.

A few kilometres from the GREAT CODE OF GORTYNA, the 49-year-old president of the village of Apesokari in Heraklion, Alexandros Daskalakis, fell victim to a brutal, unjust, cowardly and inhumane murder.

Alexandros Daskalakis also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Network of Messara Associations, as president of the Cultural Association and as president of Apesokari.

His sincere character, his rational and clear way of speaking, and his love for his homeland and his village inspired trust, and anyone who knew him personally wanted to make him a close friend.

In short, he was a good person: honest, helpful, well-liked and active both within his family and in society, with an inner nobility that is rare in our times. He fought for what was right and for the enforcement of the laws of the State in his village.

The Network of Messara Associations dedicates to Alexandros Daskalakis from Apesokari the Full Moon Night concert that will take place on 28 August 2026 at Ancient Gortyna, close to the site of the Gortyna Code, the “Great Inscription”, which survives carved into a wall of the ancient city’s courthouse. The Great Inscription of Gortyna influenced Roman Law and, later, European Law.

The event has a clearly multi-symbolic purpose, on a social, political and cultural level, as well as on a human level.

Alekos, we do not forget you.