The Archaeological Museum of Heraklion
The museum was built between 1937 and 1940, to designs by P. Karantinos. The site had been occupied during the Venetian Period by an imposing Catholic monastery of St. Francis, which was destroyed by the earthquake of 1856.
The Museum houses archaeological finds from all over Crete. Pride of place goes to the treasures of the earliest European civilization, the Minoan, which can here be admired in all its historical continuity.
The exhibition of the museum is organized in
chronological order
, ranging from the
Neolithic period
to the
Roman era
(4th century A.D.) and geographically, according to the provenance of the finds.
There are, though, several groups of finds exhibited in separate rooms:
I. All the LM III sarcophagi are displayed in room XIII, the Minoan frescoes in rooms XIV-XVI and the sculptures (reliefs, statues and architectural parts) in rooms XIX-XX.
II. The St. Giamalakis collection which was bought by the Greek State in 1962 is now on display in room XVII.
III. A collection of inscriptions is exhibited in a fenced, sheltered open space opposite the museum.
IV. The archaeological collection of Archanes.
V. The "Glyptotheke" of Gortyn, which is exhibited at the archaeological site of Gortys.
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
1, Xanthoudidou Street, Heraklion
Phone: +30-2810-226.092, 224.630
Opening Hours:
from April 1st to October 31st
Mondays: 12:00 – 19:00 Tuesdays – Sundays: 08:00 – 19:00
from November 1st to March 31st Tuesdays – Sundays: 08:30 – 17:00
Admission: 6 € Special ticketing package for the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion and the Archaeological
Site of Knossos: € 10 (reduced: € 5)
