| Archaeological Museum of Chania 1962–2020 | |
| Established: | 1962 |
| Location: | 28 Chalidon Street, Chania, Crete, Greece |
| Type: | Archaeological museum |
The Archaeological Museum of Chania (Greek, Modern (1453-);: Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Χανίων) is a museum that was located in the former Venetian Monastery of Saint Francis at Chalidon Street, Chania, Crete, Greece. It was established in 1962. In 2020 this location closed and Chania's new archaeological museum[1] relocated to 15 Skra Str. Chalepa, in 2022.[2]
The exact date that the building of the original museum was constructed is unknown although it was mentioned in writing as standing during the great earthquake of 1595 and being the largest in the city.[3] It served as a Venetian church inhabited by Franciscan friars, and became an important monument of the city.[3]
During the period of the Ottoman occupation, the building was used as a mosque and named after Yussuf Pasha. After World War II it served as a storehouse for military equipment, until it was converted into the museum in 1962.[4] [5]
In 2020, the Museum closed and reopened in 2022 at a new location on Skra Street in Halepa.
The museum contains a substantial collection of Minoan and Roman artifacts excavated from around the city of Chania and the surrounding regional unit, including pieces from the ancient cities of Kydonia, Idramia, Aptera, Polyrinia, Kissamos, Elyros, Irtakina, Syia and Lissos, and also from Axos and Lappa in Rethymno regional unit.[6]
The museum contains a wide range of coins, jewellery, vases, sculpture, clay tablets with inscriptions, stelae and mosaics.[4]
The museum has a Roman floor mosaic,[6] depicting Dionysos and Ariadne. The Archaeological Museum of Chania also has an ancient Cycladic style vessel from Episkopi, Kissamos and a number of busts including one of Roman emperor Hadrian, found at the Dictynaion sanctuary in 1913 and a late Minoan sarcophagus from the necropolis of Armeni, dated to 1400–1200 BC. There is also a spherical flask, noted for its unusual ceramic type, dated to the Late Minoan III period.[6]