Historical Museum of Crete
Historical Museum of Crete features on the Gingerguide audio walk through Heraklion. Give it roughly ~90 min: enough to look, hear a two to three minute story on the spot, and ask the AI guide whatever the story leaves open.
- Type museum
- Suggested visit ~90 min
- Heraklion Heraklion guide
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About Historical Museum of Crete
The only two El Greco paintings on Crete hang here, early works by the local boy Domenikos Theotokopoulos, amid seventeen centuries of Byzantine, Venetian and Ottoman Crete.
The Historical Museum of Crete, founded in 1953 and run by the Society of Cretan Historical Studies, traces the island from the early Christian and Byzantine period through the Venetian and Ottoman eras to modern times. Its collections include Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, Venetian and Ottoman material, coins, textiles and a large model of Candia, the Venetian city of Heraklion.
The museum holds the only two works by El Greco on public display in Crete: 'View of Mt Sinai and the Monastery of St Catherine' and 'The Baptism of Christ', both dating from the artist's early Italian period around 1570. El Greco was born Domenikos Theotokopoulos in Chandax, today Heraklion, in 1541 and died in Toledo in 1614. A collection devoted to the writer Nikos Kazantzakis, author of 'Zorba the Greek', is also displayed.
Did you know? El Greco was not always El Greco. He was born Domenikos Theotokopoulos in Heraklion in 1541, trained as a Cretan icon painter, and only became the visionary of Toledo after leaving for Italy and then Spain.
How long is a visit to Historical Museum of Crete?
Set aside roughly ~90 min for Historical Museum of Crete. That covers a good look and the narrated story, and because you set the pace you can always stay on.
Is Historical Museum of Crete worth your time?
Historical Museum of Crete is among the 20 narrated highlights the Gingerguide team chose for Heraklion, so it is worth a look. Hear the story for the context, then ask the AI guide for anything more.
Nearby stops in Heraklion
Sources and further reading
Where to check the facts about Historical Museum of Crete and read more:
Day 1 of the Heraklion in 2 days itinerary →
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Hear the story of Historical Museum of Crete
Preview the Heraklion tour free in the Gingerguide app.