Archaeological Museum of Heraklion

The Archaeological Museum in Heraklion is dedicated to Minoan art. It is one of the largest museums in Greece and the best exposition of this subject in the world. In the gallery of Heraklion are exhibits representing the Minoan civilization of Crete.

The museum began its existence in 1883, when the first small collection of artifacts was collected. The exposition was moved to a separate building, which was built in 1904-1912 thanks to the efforts of Greek archaeologists Josif Hadzidakis and Stefanos Xantudidis.

After the gallery was severely damaged in an earthquake in 1856, the already reconstructed and restored building began to be redesigned in 1937 to make it more earthquake-resistant.

Today, the archaeological museum has twenty rooms with exhibits collected throughout Crete. New interesting materials are brought to the museum directly from the excavation sites.