Location: Heraklion
Top Things to do in Heraklion
Top Restaurants in Heraklion
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What to do and see in Heraklion, Crete: The Best History Museums
Heraklion (/hɪˈrækliən/; Greek: Ηράκλειο, Irákleio, pronounced [iˈraklio]) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete. It is the fourth largest city in Greece. According to the results of the 2011 census, the population of the city proper was 140,730 inhabitants, the municipality's was 173,993 while the Heraklion urban area has a population of 225,574 and it extends over an area of 684.3 km (264.2 sq mi).
Restaurants in Heraklion
1. Kotsanas Museum
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 111 reviews
A Venetian building of 15th century, in the historical center of Heraklion housing a relatively unknown aspect of Ancient Greek culture through the exhibition “Hi-Tech Inventions of Ancient Greeks”. Come along on a guided and virtual tour of an exceptional selection of unique inventions of the Ancient Greeks. Discover that their technology, just before the end of the ancient World, was extremely similar to the beginning of our modern technology.
Reviewed By michellekissler - Athens, Greece
Crete is full of incredible history, but this is a really fun educational center that’s very different than anything else here. This place is about the engineering and technologies that were invented by the Greeks and Romans. These are all recreations from ancient texts so we can see how they worked. My favorite was Plato’s alarm clock. Between their steam turbine and the hydraulics, they were one step away from inventing an engine. It shows you that renaissance men like Da Vinci, may have studied these same works from Plato, Archimedes, Ptolemy, Euclid, Pythagoras, and others, which allowed them to take it to the next level with their own inventions.
2. Heraklion Archaeological Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7,278 reviews
A museum delineating the history of the island Crete, complete with artifacts belonging to the ancient civilizations that once populated the island.
Reviewed By crum77
Excellent museum! It provides great historical lessons and context for the items on display and lays them out in such a way that you can walk through history and see the progression of technology from the early Bronze Age up to the early Iron Age. Interesting historical contexts about the economics of the various times and how the political system was structured in early Crete. Worth the price of admission.
3. Museum of Cretan Ethnology
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 56 reviews
4. Museum of Local Art and Agricultural History
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 7 reviews
The form and image of the Arolithos Traditional Cretan Village is complete with the presence of the museum of Local Art and Agricultural History.To achieve its main goal, which is to preserve and promote the Cretan civilization and tradition, Arolithos established a museum.This museum exhibits old household objects of everyday life, agricultural tools and various items of local art.There is also a computer in the museum providing information about Arolithos and all the activities available.A bibliographic reference material on the tradition, the civilization and the history Crete is currently being compiled. This library will soon be available to the public.
5. Historical Museum of Crete
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 679 reviews
The Historical Museum of Crete presents a comprehensive view of Cretan history from early Christian times to the present day. It was founded in 1953 by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, which had been established two years earlier. The museum is housed in a two-storey neoclassical building, which was constructed in 1903 on the site of an earlier mansion belonging to the Kalokerinos family. The second building, designed by K. Tsandirakis, was clearly influenced by morphological features of the earlier one, and was later listed as a historical monument. The new museum extension to the west constituted an attempt to combine traditional and modern architecture. The original goal of those founding the Historical Museum of Crete was to collect and preserve valuable archaeological, ethnographic and historical material deriving from the medieval and modern periods in Cretan history. The process of enriching the collections, extending exhibition space and redefining the museum's aims has never ceased. Prolific research and publishing activity, the organisation of temporary exhibitions, educational programmes and the use of audiovisual media all form part of the modern educational role adopted by the Historical Museum of Crete over time. The same approach also includes the gradual re-organisation of the collections on display so as to appeal to a wider range of visitors, thus offering them the opportunity to understand the many facets of historical development on Crete from early Byzantine times to the present day.
Reviewed By 288lesleyl - Geneva, Switzerland
This lovely museum is well set out and easy to follow in half a day. It’s a real jewel showing all aspects of the island’s turbulent history and houses Crete’s only two El Greco paintings. And there’s a good cafe with a shady garden. If you visit before 1.3.2020 be sure to see Alexis Akrithakis temporary exhibition On the move with brightly painted suitcases.
