Tinos Archaeological Museum

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

Established in the 1960s, the Archaeological Museum of Tinos can be found along the main street of Tinos Town, which leads from the port to Evangelistria Church. Its permanent collection includes findings from locations such as Kardiani, as well as from the two major archaeological sites on the island: the Sanctuary of Poseidon and the Temple of Demeter and Persephone that used to stand at the foothills of Mount Xombourgo.

Among the most notable exhibits is a unique collection of large pithoi decorated with relief depictions of scenes from the Theogony, as well as of religious rituals observed at the time of their fabrication. Moreover, visitors have the chance to see a plethora of funerary vases dating from the Dark Ages, sculptures, architectural members from ancient temples, fragments of Hellenistic works of art, as well as Roman copies. These are complemented by a series of impressive funerary stelae, the most noteworthy of which comes from the Archaic necropolis of Xombourgo and shows a man dressed in a mantle.

The highlight is probably the multifaceted sundial crafted by Andronicus of Cyrrhus in the 1st century BC, which made it possible to measure solar time and estimate the dates of equinoxes and solstices. In fact, Andronicus’ sundial is often claimed to be a predecessor of the Antikythera Mechanism!