Archaeological Museum of Chania, Archaeological museum in Chalepa district, Chania, Greece

The Archaeological Museum of Chania opened in 2022 in a 6,500 m² building on Skra Street in Chalepa, designed by architect Teofanis Bobotis. Its exhibition halls cover 1,800 m², with a 140 m² gallery, an open-air display area, a viewing point, a shop and a café. Finds come from Kydonia, Aptera, Polyrinia, Elyros, Lissos and Axos, among other ancient sites.

The museum was established in 1962 in the former Venetian Monastery of Saint Francis on Chalidon Street, a building mentioned in writings about the 1595 earthquake and later used as a mosque named after Yussuf Pasha. It closed in 2020 and reopened on 16 April 2022 in a new building on Skra Street in Chalepa, designed by Teofanis Bobotis and completed in 2015.

The collection includes objects from Minoan and Roman times, such as clay tablets with early writing, jewelry, and vessels from the ancient city of Kydonia, which lies beneath modern Chania. These everyday objects give a direct sense of how people in this part of Crete lived and worked centuries ago.

Visiting in the early morning or late afternoon tends to be quieter, with fewer people around. The building is in the Chalepa neighborhood, a short walk from the center of Chania, and the entrance is easy to find.

Among the objects on display are Late Minoan spherical flasks and bird-shaped ceramic vessels, which are among the rarest forms from that period. These pieces show that potters of the time were not only making practical containers but also working with shapes that had a clear creative intent.