Nestling along the foot of Psiloreitis, with its plain, austere form emerging among the fragrant plants of the blessed Cretan land, the Museum of Ancient Eleutherna is the first such Museum in Crete and the fifth in all of Greece, after Vergina, Olympia, Delphi and Mycenae – to mention some contemporary examples.
The Museum was inaugurated in 2016, aiming at doing the treasures of ancient Eleftherna and the necropolis of Orthi Petra justice, while following the area’s historical trajectory from 3000BC to the Byzantine times. At the same time, it also documents Homeric Crete through brilliant analogies.
It is no coincidence that the exhibition opens with a bronze shield, exquisitely decorated with a lion’s head, and closes with finds from the funerary pyre of a noble warrior found with the unburnt, headless skeleton of a prisoner, recalling the Iliad and the pyre of Patroclus, where 12 Trojan prisoners were slaughtered in his honour by Achilles.
Directions
74052, Eleutherna, Mylopotamos
By car
30 minutes from the city of Rethymno
Opening hours
Summer hours
April 1 – October 31
Mon: 10:00 – 18:00
Tue: Closed
Wed: 10:00 – 18:00
Thu: 10:00 – 18:00
Fri: 10:00 – 18:00
Sat: 10:00 – 18:00
Sun: 10:00 – 18:00
Winter hours
November 1 – March 31
Mon: 08:30 – 15:30
Tue: Closed
Wed: 08:30 – 15:30
Thu: 08:30 – 15:30
Fri: 08:30 – 15:30
Sat: 08:30 – 15:30
Sun: 08:30 – 15:30
Last admission: 20 minutes before closing time
The site remains closed on the following dates and public holidays: January 1, March 25, May 1, Easter Sunday, December 25 & 26.
The site remains closed on the following dates and public holidays: January 1, March 25, May 1, Easter Sunday, December 25 & 26.
Tickets
Museum of Ancient Eleutherna
Full: €10.00
Reduced: €5.00
Archaeological Site of Eleutherna
Full: €10.00
Reduced: €5.00
Admission is free on March 6, April 18, May 18, the last weekend of September, on October 28, as well as on the first and third Sunday of each month between November 1 and March 31.
Amenities
WC
Parking
Accessibility
Contact
Museum of Ancient Eleutherna
Τ: +30 28340 92501
Ephorate of Antiquities of Rethymno
Τ: +30 28310 23653, +30 28310 58842
Ε: efareth@culture.gr
