The New Archaeological Museum of Chania
The New Archaeological Museum of Chania may well be the largest and most important project for the cultural and tourist development of Chania, which will also play a major role in the promotion of the Chalepa quarter, with its dozens of Neoclassical mansions constituting monuments of early modern local history.
The building will cover a total area of 5,656.13 square metres. Apart from the main exhibition hall, it will include separate areas for administrative offices, storerooms, conservation laboratories and an amphitheatre. There will also be an 81-space car park in the Museum forecourt.
The Museum, designed by the famous architect Theofanis Bobotis, will be constructed in the free area of the former Chatzidakis military camp in Chalepa. The total area of 5,230 square metres includes spacious exhibition halls of 1,800 square metres, while the building will also contain a temporary exhibition hall, a lecture theatre which will also be used for educational programmes, a 140-seat amphitheatre, a restaurant, a bookshop, laboratories and storerooms. It is worth noting that Bobotis’s design has received very positive comments both in Greece and abroad.
The New Archaeological Museum of Chania has been incorporated into the “Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship” Operational Programme of the 2007-2013 National Strategic Reference Framework, with an overall budget of €17,985,000. The project was contracted out on 03-04-2012 for the sum of €9,176,716.60. The costs will be €4,329,629.54, i.e. 48% of the total contract.
The implementation body, the Directorate for the Execution of Museum and Cultural Building Projects of the Ministry of Culture, is also in charge of Subproject 2, “Connection of Building to Services of General Interest”, with a budget of €150,000.
Following the increase of the payment ceiling by the Public Investment Programme, the sum of €1,000,000 has been paid to the implementation body for the 3rd trimester of 2014, which more than covers the invoices submitted.
A further project is also underway, entitled “Preparation of Study for Permanent Exhibition and Equipment of the Archaeological Museum of Chania – Organisation of Temporary Exhibition ‘The Archaeological Museum of Chania from the 19th to the 21st Century: An Eventful Journey through Space and Time’”. The project was incorporated into the “Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship” Operational Programme of the 2007-2013 National Strategic Reference Framework on 06-12-2013. The implementation body is the 25th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, with a budget of €820,000.
The realisation of the permanent exhibition, the layout of the surrounding site and the completion of the amphitheatre will be funded by the next Programming Period 2014 -2020, as already agreed with the Region of Crete.
In any case, the New Archaeological Museum of Chania will be fully functional following the implementation of both projects included in the current Programming Period in the “Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship” Operational Programme of the 2007-2013 National Strategic Reference Framework.
