Rethymno Military Museum of Chromonastiri

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Location: Chromonastiri
Don't miss: Museums guide (free admission dates and other useful info)

The Military Museum of Chromonastiri is located at the central square of the picturesque traditional village of the same name, 10 kilometers outside of Rethymno town and operates since 2010. The museum is hosted in the renowned Villa Claudio, an impressive mansion of Venetian architecture that dates from the 17th century and belonged to the homonymous noble family, while it was restored in recent years.

The building was granted by the locals to the Greek Army in 1997 and is home to military and war-related exhibits that cover a wide chronological range. The items include weapons, uniforms, medals, and military equipment from the Venetian era, the Hellenic Revolution of 1821, the Macedonian Liberation Wars, the World War II etc. while there is also rich photographic material related to the evolution and presence of the Greek military forces to this day. On the outer space, visitors can also admire warplanes and military vehicles while there are frequent periodic exhibitions.

The museum is closed on Mondays. It is also closed on Saturdays as it only accepts groups' visits. From Tuesday to Friday, the museum operates from 9:00 to 15:00 and on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00. The regular fee is at 3 euros and the reduced one at 1,5 euros.

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Reviews

5/5.0
1 Reviews
  • olli.lampinen 02 Oct 2012
    The War Museum in Rethymno
    In July 2011 I visited, together with my friend from Rethymno, the War Museum. The Museum is located 5 kilometres southeast from the Rethymno city centre. We went there by car from Rethymno. It was very intresting to see the fine museum. It was a rather large museum with arms in the buildins but also collections outside.
    The exhibition was big with weapons and different war things. The main part of the arms was from the Second World War. Inside of the museum buildings were uniforms, rifles and pistols. Outside there was many cannons, military trucks, tanks, one aircraft and one helikopter.
    In the museum was also a printed story of the Battle of Crete 1941. The German invasion of Crete was a vey great military operation. The commander of the German forces was the famous general Kurt Student. He was one of the best generals in the German army. The commander of the allied forces was general Bernard Freyberg. In his army was military units from Greece, England, Australia and New Zealand. The Germans left Crete in year 1944 after many years of hard battles with the Cretan guerilla.
    Before they went away from Crete 1944 there happen a kidnap operation. Some allied officers together with Cretan guerilla soldiers kidnaped the German commander Heindrich Kriepe. The operation was 25 kilometers outside Heraklion. The leaders of the operation was the two English officers major Patrik Leight Fermor and captain Bill Stanley Moss. General Kreipe was transported by foot over the Ida Mounting down to the south coast and over the sea to Alexandria in Egypt. Lather they transported him to a war prison camp in Canada. If you travel to Rethymno go to this museum it is a very intresting place.

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