Since 1962, the Archaeological Museum has been housed in the Catholic Monastery of the Franciscan monks on Halithon Street. Findings from different parts of the county of Hania are exhibited in the museum rooms depicting the history of the area from Neolithic to Roman times. The exhibition is divided into two sections. The first (eastern section) contains exhibits from Prehistoric times (3rd and 2nd millennium BC), while the second (western section) contains exhibits of what is called Historical Times (1st millennium BC). The display of the Prehistoric collection comprises carved vessels, clay plates in Linear A and B scripts, clay discs, a beautiful collection of gold necklaces, seal stones, and stone beads. There are also clay urns and large store jars in several corners of the prehistoric section.

The exhibition of the Historic Times comprises a rich collection of clay vases, several sculpts and tube stone inscriptions from various parts of the county. In addition, the visitor can see mosaic floors of the Roman period (2nd and 3rd centuries AD) depicting scenes from the Dionysian period and episodes from the myth of Poseidon and the nymph Amimoni.

Address: Chalidon 21, Tel. 0030 28210 91875

Open: 08:30 – 15:00 except Mondays

The Historical Archive of Crete was established in 1920 based in Chania and constitutes a Public Inter-Prefectorate Service, a decentralized department of the General Record Office of the State, which comes directly under the Ministry of Education. It is housed in a public neoclassical, protected building at 20 I. Sfakianaki St. and it also includes a second, ancillary building with file record rooms.

The Historical Archive has attained such a high level that it is considered to be the largest of the regional Historical Archive in the country, in terms of content, volume, and material importance. The aim and mission of the Historical Archive of Crete is the collection, classification, recording, preservation, and promotion of all kinds of archives and relics relating to Cretan History.

Today, approximately 700,000 historical documents are preserved in the Historical Archive: Large historical collections, such as the official correspondence of the Cretan Revolutions of 1821-1830, 1866-1869, 1877-1878, 1895-1898 and 1905. Moreover, it includes many private collections with archive material belonging to Rebels and other prominent figures, the archives of Cretan fighters, the archives of the Turkish Administration in Crete, the Central Translation Office of Crete, the Cretan Government and German Occupation, as well as Administrative, Judicial, Church archives, etc., a large photographic collection with approximately 3,000 photographs, a complete record of the Cretan Press from 1831, a specialised Library containing about 10,000 titles, as well as a large museum collection of valuable historical and folklore relics.

Eleftherios’ father, Kyriakos Venizelos, bought the site of the Venizelos family house in 1876. The style is that of a villa and was finished in 1880. It has two floors and is surrounded by a garden planted with trees and vines. Later, it was renovated by Eleftherios Venizelos, who transferred the reception rooms to the ground floor and the bedrooms to the first floor. Today it houses the “Eleftherios Venizelos Institution”.

The south complex was completed in 1599, with the construction of 17 Neoria. In 1607, the construction of five more Neoria began on the eastern basin of the harbor. These are known as the Moro Neoria and only two were ever completed. Today only 7 survive out of the 17. The ceilings are arched, and they are connected with arched openings of the same thickness as the walls.

The original fortifications of the city of Hania surrounding the Hill of Kasteli were founded on the ruins of an older fortification built in Hellenistic times. The largest part of the Byzantine wall was constructed with building materials taken from ancient Kythonia. Its outline is irregular and consists of linear sections interrupted by small rectangular or multi-angular towers. At certain points, the wall simply complements the existing natural rock on the south and part of the east and west sides, it completely meets the city’s need for protection. In the wall are four gates none of which has its original form today. The two main gates were the west, opening to Sindrivani Square and the east, on the crossroads of Kanevaro and Daskalogianni Streets. There were two smaller gates, one on the south side (Katre and Karaoli-Dimitriou streets) and the other on the north side, near the Turkish Prison, leading to Aferdoulief street (Today the Turkish Prison houses the Rector’s Office and the Administration Offices of the Technical University of Crete).