Welcome to the official website of the Archaeological Museum of Chania.

The aim of this website is to provide a cultural information hub to promote and make the most of our local cultural heritage, while also operating as a point of reference and a source of comprehensive cultural information and promotion, ensuring that the Archaeological Museum of Chania is placed within a framework of scientific integrity, quality and multilingual presentation.

You can use our web pages to navigate around the museum exhibits, educational programmes, archaeological tours and various cultural activities of the Museum, in order to acquire a full picture of our collections and activities. 

The Museum has been housed since 1963 in the historic centre of Chania, in the church of the Monastery of St Francis, a major monument of the Venetian period in Crete (1211-1669). The permanent exhibition illustrates, through archaeological testimonies, the cultural history and character of the area through the ages, from the Neolithic period to the Roman era (4^th millennium BC - 3^rd c. AD).

The Museum collections contain finds from the Neolithic sites (mainly caves), settlements and cemeteries of the Minoan and Historic periods found in Chania Prefecture. These include important Minoan finds from the excavations on Kastelli Hill in the city of Chania, which most scholars identify with the Minoan and Classical city of Cydonia, the major centre of power of West Crete in antiquity.

Numerous decorated clay vases and female figurines, clay tablets in Linear A and B script, sealings, Minoan clay larnakes, gold jewellery, sculpture, coins, inscriptions, dedicatory stelai and mosaics all form part of this stunning exhibition. The most emblematic exhibits of the Museum are the clay tablets in Linear A and B script and the archive of Linear B tablets from Cydonia, as well as the famous clay “Master Impression”, depicting a scene unique in Minoan art: a typical Minoan landscape that can be identified with Kastelli Hill, where the sealing was found. At the centre of the image, on the roof of a building complex set on a hill by the sea, stands an imposing male figure holding a spear or staff in his outstretched right hand. Another impressive exhibit is the group of clay bulls of varying sizes from an open-air sanctuary in the area of Tsiskiana (4^th c. BC - 3^rd c. AD), votive offerings to the god Poseidon, to whose cult the sanctuary was dedicated.

In three small rooms on the north side of the Museum, adjoining the church of St Francis, is exhibited part of the Konstantinos, Marika and Kyriakos Mitsotakis Collection, comprising examples of Minoan pottery, clay models, stone-carving and seal-carving, as well as jewellery and various other artefacts dated from the late 4^th millennium BC to the 3^rd c. AD.

Source :

“Archaeological Museums and Collections of Greece” 2008, Copyright: Ministry of Culture and Tourism / Directorate of Museums, Exhibitions and Educational Programmes