Lassithi Sitia Archaeological Museum

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

The Archaeological Museum of Sitia, Lassithi Crete: The Archaeological Museum of Sitia is one of the most remarkable museums in Crete and hosts findings from the region of Sitia and the wider prefecture of Lassithi. The collection of the museum is divided into 4 categories, with exhibits that date from 3,500 BC till 500 AD. In particular, there are exhibits from the Minoan period, exhibits from the Palace of Zakros, exhibits from the Geometrical and Archaic period as well as exhibits from the Roman period.

The founder of the Archaeological Museum of Sitia, which opened its gates in 1984, was the famous Cretan archaeologist Nikos Papadakis. The museum is located at the entrance of the town, on the road from Sitia to Ierapetra and apart from exhibition rooms, it also has many storehouses, laboratories, and an archaeological library.

The most important exhibit of the museum is a Kouros (male) statue made of gold and ivory that was excavated in the Minoan town of Palekastro, eastern Lassithi. Very interesting are also the findings from the Minoan Palace of Kato Zakros, among which are some large vases with evident the traces of the fire that destructed the palace those times. Findings from Kato Zakros also include boards written in Linear A and household items of the palace, such as cooking utensils and a mill for cereal grinding.

In the Archaeological Museum of Sitia, visitors will also see tombstones from the Geometrical and Archaic period, statuettes from sanctuaries, sections from the Roman villa of Makrigialos and a collection of vases that were found in a Roman shipwreck and are today guarded in a tank with salt water.