Crete
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Crete - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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1. Firka
Museum/GalleryJust across the narrow channel from the lighthouse, where a chain was connected in times of peril to close the harbor, is the old Turkish prison, which now houses the Maritime Museum of Crete. Exhibits, more riveting than might be expected, trace the island's seafaring history from the time of the Minoans, with a reproduction of an Athenian trireme, amphora from Roman shipwrecks, Ottoman weaponry, and other relics. Look for the photos and mementos from the World War II Battle of Crete, when Allied forces moved across the island and, with the help of Cretans, ousted the German occupiers. Much of the fighting centered on Chania, and great swaths of the city were destroyed during the war. Almost worth the price of admission alone is the opportunity to walk along the Firka's ramparts for bracing views of the city, sea, and mountains.
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2. Heraklion Archaeological Museum
Museum/GalleryStanding in a class of its own, this museum guards practically all of the Minoan treasures uncovered in the legendary excavations of the Palace of Knossos and other monuments of Minoan civilization. These amazing artifacts, many 3,000 years old, were brought to light in 20th-century excavations by famed British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans and are shown off in handsome modern galleries. It's best to visit the museum first thing in the morning, before the tour buses arrive, or in late afternoon, once they pull away. Top treasures include the famous seal stones, many inscribed with Linear B script, discovered and deciphered by Evans around the turn of the 20th century. The most stunning and mysterious seal stone is the so-called Phaistos Disk, found at Phaistos Palace in the south, its purpose unknown. (Linear B script is now recognized as an early form of Greek, but the earlier Linear A script that appears on clay tablets and that of the Phaistos Disk have yet to be deciphered.)Perhaps the most arresting exhibits, though, are the sophisticated frescoes, restored fragments of which were found in Knossos. They depict broad-shouldered, slim-waisted youths, their large eyes fixed with an enigmatic expression on the Prince of the Lilies; ritual processions and scenes from the bullring, with young men and women somersaulting over the back of a charging bull; and groups of court ladies, whose flounced skirts led a French archaeologist to exclaim in surprise, "Des Parisiennes!," a name still applied to this striking fresco.Even before great palaces with frescoes were being built around 1900 BC, the prehistoric Cretans excelled at metalworking and carving stone vases, and they were also skilled at producing pottery, such as the eggshell-thin Kamares ware decorated in delicate abstract designs. Other specialties were miniature work such as the superbly crafted jewelry and the colored seal stones that are carved with lively scenes of people and animals. Though naturalism and an air of informality distinguish much Minoan art from that of contemporary Bronze Age cultures elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, you can also see a number of heavy rococo set pieces, such as the fruit stand with a toothed rim and the punch bowl with appliquéd flowers.The Minoans' talents at modeling in stone, ivory, and a kind of glass paste known as faience peaked in the later palace period (1700–1450 BC). A famous rhyton, a vase for pouring libations, carved from dark serpentine in the shape of a bull's head, has eyes made of red jasper and clear rock crystal with horns of gilded wood. An ivory acrobat—perhaps a bull-leaper—and two bare-breasted faience goddesses in flounced skirts holding wriggling snakes were among a group of treasures hidden beneath the floor of a storeroom at Knossos. Bull-leaping, whether a religious rite or a favorite sport, inspired some of the most memorable images in Minoan art. Note, also, the three vases, probably originally covered in gold leaf, from Ayia Triada that are carved with scenes of Minoan life thought to be rendered by artists from Knossos: boxing contests, a harvest-home ceremony, and a Minoan official taking delivery of a consignment of hides. The most stunning rhyton of all, from Zakro, is made of rock crystal.
View Tours and ActivitiesXanthoudidou and Hatzidaki, Heraklion, Crete, 71202, Greece28102-24630Sight Details
Rate Includes: €10; combined ticket for museum and Palace of Knossos €16 -
3. Historical Museum of Crete
Museum/GalleryAn imposing mansion houses a varied collection of Early Christian and Byzantine sculptures, Venetian and Ottoman stonework, artifacts of war, and rustic folklife items. The museum provides a wonderful introduction to Cretan culture, and is the only place in Crete to display the work of famed native son El Greco (Domenikos Theotocopoulos), who left the island—then part of the Venetian Republic—for Italy and then Spain around 1567; his Baptism of Christ and View of Mount Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine hang amid frescoes, icons, and other Byzantine pieces. Upon entering, look out for the Lion of St. Mark sculpture, with an inscription that says in Latin "I protect the kingdom of Crete." Left of the entrance is a room stuffed with memorabilia from Crete's bloody revolutionary past: weapons, portraits of mustachioed warrior chieftains, and the flag of the short-lived independent Cretan state set up in 1898. The 19th-century banner in front of the staircase sums up the spirit of Cretan rebellion against the Turks: eleftheria o thanatos ("Freedom or Death"). A small section is dedicated to World War II and the German invasion of 1941. Upstairs, look in on a room arranged as the study of Crete's most famous writer, Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957), the author of Zorba the Greek and an epic poem, The Odyssey, a Modern Sequel; he was born in Heraklion and is buried here, just inside the section of the walls known as the Martinengo. The top floor contains a stunning collection of Cretan textiles, including the brilliant scarlet weavings typical of the island's traditional handwork, and another room arranged as a domestic interior of the early 1900s.
Sofokli Venizelou 27, Heraklion, Crete, 71202, Greece28102-83219Sight Details
Rate Includes: €5, Closed Sun. -
4. Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Collection of Chania
Museum/GalleryYou'll get some insight into the Venetian occupation and the Christian centuries that preceded it at this small museum housed in the charming 15th-century church of San Salvadore alongside the city walls just behind the Firka. Mosaics, icons, coins, and other artifacts bring to life Cretan civilization as it was after the Roman Empire colonized the island and Christianity took root as early as the 1st century.
Theotokopoulou 78–82, Chania, Crete, 73131, Greece28210-96046Sight Details
Rate Includes: €2, Closed Mon -
5. Cretan House
Museum/GalleryChania's colorful folklife museum is bursting at the seams with farm equipment, tools, household items, wedding garb, and a wealth of other material reflecting the island's traditional heritage.
Chalidron 46, Chania, Crete, 73100, Greece28-2109–0816Sight Details
Rate Includes: €2, Closed Sun -
Recommended Fodor’s Video
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6. Cretan Traditional Folklore Museum
Museum/GalleryAn old village house in Ayios Georgios stands as it was when generations of farmers lived here. The living quarters and stables, along with the delightful assemblage of simple furnishings, embroidery, and tools, provide a chance to see domestic life as it was, and indeed still is, for many residents of the plateau.
Ayios Georgios, Crete, 72100, Greece28440-31460Sight Details
Rate Includes: €3, Closed late Oct.–mid-Apr -
7. Folk Museum
Museum/GalleryThis interesting little museum showcases exquisite weavings and embroidered pieces, along with walking sticks, tools, and other artifacts from everyday rural life in Crete.
Kondylaki 2, Ayios Nikolaos, Crete, 72100, Greece28410-25093Sight Details
Rate Includes: Free, Closed Nov.–Apr. -
8. Museum of Cretan Ethnology
Museum/GalleryA rich collection of Cretan folk items showcases exquisite weavings and pottery, basketry, farm implements, household furnishings, and clothing, all beautifully displayed and descriptively labeled in a well-designed building. Undoubtedly, the best museum of its kind on the island.
Voroi Pirgiotissis, Crete, 72300, Greece28-9209–1112Sight Details
Rate Includes: €3, Closed Oct.–Apr. -
9. Natural History Museum of Crete
Museum/GalleryHoused in a former electricity plant, this provides a nice trip out for the whole family. Focusing on the wildlife of Crete and the wider Mediterranean, it is presented in a fun and informative manner. Four levels cover pre-history, with huge animated dinosaurs, through to modern day, with live reptiles and small mammals in glass tanks. The basement area contains a special interactive area for kids where they can discover nature hands-on, and a seismic table which recreates earthquakes from the past.
Leof. Sofokli Venizelou , Heraklion, Crete, 71202, Greece28102-82740Sight Details
Rate Includes: €7.50
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