Fodor's Expert Review Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum at Ayios Nikolaos is the island's second-best showcase for Minoan artifacts (after Heraklion's own archaeological museum), most unearthed here in eastern Crete. The prize is the Goddess of Myrtos, a surprisingly contempory-looking statue circa 2500 BC (actually, the entire object is a rhyton, or vessel) of a woman cradling a large jug (the spout) in her spindly arms. There are also examples of late Minoan pottery in the naturalist marine style, with lively octopus and shell designs.