Museums in Crete

Museums & Galleries

Crete’s museums span from the Minoan civilization at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum to modern literary history at the Nikos Kazantzakis Museum. Chania offers maritime exhibits in a Venetian fortress and the Byzantine Collection in a former church. Unique sites include the historic WWII shelter in Platanias, the Olive Tree Museum of Vouves featuring a 3,000-year-old tree, and the open-air Lychnostatis museum showcasing traditional Cretan crafts and architecture.

Chihyuan Lim / CC-BY-SA

Heraklion Archaeological Museum

The Heraklion Archaeological Museum is a museum located in Heraklion on Crete.

El Greco / Public domain

Historical Museum of Crete

The Historical Museum of Crete is a museum in Heraklion, Crete. It was founded by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies in 1953 and was…

Wouter Hagens / CC BY-SA 3.0

Monastery of Arkadi

The Arkadi Monastery is an Eastern Orthodox monastery, situated on a fertile plateau 23 km to the southeast of Rethymnon on the island of…

C messier / CC BY-SA 4.0

Eleftherios Venizelos 'Museum

Eleftherios Venizelos Museum of Chalepa is an historic house museum in Chania, Crete, Greece.

Wouter Hagens / CC BY-SA 3.0

Maritime Museum of Crete

The Nautical Museum of Crete is a museum in Chania, Crete, Greece. Its collection includes models of ships, nautical instruments, painting,…

Wolfgang Sauber / CC BY-SA 3.0

Byzantine Collection of Chania

Collection of all kinds of art related to the Byzantine Empire - artefacts, icons and even a mosaic, housed in a beautiful church.

Wouter Hagens / CC BY-SA 3.0

Yiali Tzami

The Küçük Hasan Pasha Mosque or Yalı Mosque is a former Ottoman mosque and exhibition hall in Chania, Crete, Greece.

Jolle~commonswiki / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Municipal Art Gallery

Housed in the 13th-century Venetian Basilica of Saint Mark, this gallery hosts rotating exhibitions of modern art. The building features distinctive Venetian architecture and originally served as the city's main cathedral.