Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos: Expanding on Prehistoric Crete

Originally meant to accomodate the finds from eastern Crete that were being transferred to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion, it is housed in a recently renovated building designed by architect Patroklos Karantinos, a typical example of museum architecture from the 1960s; its collections cover a huge time span from the Neolithic to the Ottoman period and are displayed in eight halls.

The first one is dominated by the numerous burial gifts recovered from the Early Minoan coastal cemetery of Agia Photia (3000 – 2300 BC), the largest in prehistoric Crete. Among them stand out handmade vases with strong Cycladic influences.

The most popular exhibit of the Museum is the Goddess of Myrtos, an exquisite libation vessel shaped like a stylized female deity from the Early Minoan settlement of Phournou Koryphi. The skull of a young athlete wearing a golden crown with olive leaves and a silver tetradrachm in his mouth, an offering to Charon, is equally impressive, found in the Roman cemetery of Lato.