Museums City

In the Prefecture of Rethymno, as evidenced by the findings and the inscriptions, there seems to have been a presence from the Neolithic Age. Over the centuries, the area of Rethymno flourished at times and bequeathed this to the newest important cultural monuments. The real renaissance for Rethymno, though, came during the Venetian domination. Today a visit to the museums of the town will make you travel back to the picturesque Rethymno, as if time had never passed…

Archaeological Museum

It is located at the center of Rethymno’s historic center in Saint Francis Church. It hosts findings from the Neolithic Age to the era of Roman rule. The collections include findings from caves, settlements, and cemeteries of the Minoan Era, as well as objects from the Geometric, Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman eras, brought to light by archaeologists during excavations in ancient cities.

Some of the most important exhibits that you must see are the helmet which is covered in boar teeth and the reliquaries from the post-Minoan era cemetery of Armeni, the statue of Aphrodite from Argiroupoli, the seals and collections of gold jewelry and coins, including some of the oldest navigation instruments.

4, Agiou Fragiskou Str
Opening hours: daily 10:00 – 18:00 except Tuesday
Tickets: 2€ and 1€ for senior citizens aged over 65 years old and free entrance for students
Info tel.: 28310 27506

Contemporary Art Museum
of Crete

In 1992 the “L. Kanakakis” Municipal Gallery was established in an old Venetian building dating back to the early 20th century, in which one of the first industrial sites in Crete operated as a soap factory until the 1970s.

Today, the Contemporary Art Museum of Crete's permanent collection includes approximately 700 works. The collection includes works of Lefteris Kanakakis (oil paintings, drawings, and watercolors) mirroring all the stages of his artistic work, along with works of contemporary Greek and international artists, covering a wide spectrum of contemporary Greek art from 1950 until today, from abstraction to digital art.

The works of the permanent collection are presented in the central space of the museum, while in other alternative exhibition spaces, it hosts temporary exhibitions of national and international content. At the same time, the museum organizes lectures and training programs and has collaborations with other institutions in Greece and abroad. Since 1992, it has presented 190 exhibitions, solo, and group, and has published 90 catalogs. Educational programs and guided tours arranged by age group (children, adolescents, and adults) are offered daily at all exhibitions. The Educational Sector and Art Workshops function within the wider context of the museum’s sphere of activities, since 1996. The activities are carried out either on the premises of the museum or in a specially arranged space located at Str. Himaras 8, next door to the museum.

32, Mesologiou Str
Opening Hours: Monday closed
May - October
Tuesday - Friday: 9:00-14:00 & 19:00-21:00
Saturday - Sunday: 10:00-15:00
November - April
Tuesday - Friday: 9:00 – 14:00
Wednesday & Friday 9:00-14:00 & 18:00-21:00
Saturday - Sunday: 10:00-15:00
Admission fee: 3 € Students: 1,5€ Groups of 5 or more: 2€
50% discount to members of the European Youth Card
Free entrance for pupils, pensioners, and holders of the Culture card

and the special member card of the International Council of Museums
Free admission every Thursday for all visitors.
Contact: +30 28310 52530

For more information: https://www.cca.gr/

Historical and Folk Art Museum

The museum is housed in a Venetian building of the 17th Century, which has been characterized as a protected monument by the Ministry of Culture. You will see beautiful collections of traditional handicrafts and textiles, baskets, ceramics, historic heirlooms, documents, photographs, banners, maps, arms, coins, as well as interesting architectural elements like the stone staircase in the courtyard, the hall with the two rows of Venetian windows and the kitchen with the chimney.

28, M. Vernadou Str
Info tel.: 28310 23398
Opening hours: daily 10:00 -15:00
Sunday closed
Tickets: 4€, 2€ for students and senior citizens over 65 years of age.

Paleontology Museum

It is housed in the Veli Pasha Mosque or Mastaba Mosque and operates as part of the Goulandris Natural History Museum in Crete. The Museum exhibition offers visitors various brief stops along the history of Crete in the past 300,000,000 years. Fossils of invertebrates from Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic sea deposits in Crete, along with texts, drawings, maps inform visitors about the geological treasures of Crete. In the museum are shown bones of Pleistocene native elephants which are of special interest, as well as material regarding the deers in Crete.

Satha & Markellou Str
Tel: +302831023083
Email: [email protected]
Opening hours: April – October: Monday – Saturday 9:00 – 15:00
November – March: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 9:00 – 15:00
Tickets: 4€

Ecclesiastical Museum

The exhibition of the Museum will introduce you to the ecclesiastical and cultural heritage of Rethymno. At the museum, you will find 152 exhibits like carved screens, ornaments, habits, icons, and manuscripts. An old clock, an original lithographic print of A. Vevelakis and the plate in relief dating back to 1816 and showing the two-headed eagle (the oldest exhibit of the museum), are some of the items that will attract your attention.

Tompazi Str, opposite the Cathedral
Info tel.: 28310 22788
Opening hours: daily 9: 30 – 12: 30
Free entrance