⭐ Travel Guide for Island Crete ⛵, Greece❗

Travelers of Crete can visit very interesting art collections and exhibitions throughout the year. Temporary exhibitions of painting, photography and other forms of art are frequently hosted in galleries in Heraklion, Chania, Agios Nikolaos, Rethymnon, Sitia, Ierapetra and smaller towns such as Panormos. It is worth mentioning the southernmost gallery of Europe which is housed at Keratokambos and the museum of engravings, named Xotaris, in Archanes.

Museums and art galleries with permanent collections of utmost importance include the Museum of Visual Arts in Heraklion, the Art Factory Eleourgion in Dromonero, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rethymnon and more. Important collections of wood and stone sculpture operate in Axos, Anogia, Venerato and Marathos. There is also a Wax museum in Zoniana.

Museums and collections that highlight the life and work of great Cretan authors, artists and politicians are met all over the island. Venues associated with the life and work of the national leader Eleftherios Venizelos are open to visitors. These include the house where he was born in Mournies, his house at Halepa, the Historical Museum in Therisso and the Museum of Venizelos at the village Agios Georgios. A very interesting museum dedicated to the great author Nikos Kazantzakis operates at his birthplace, Myrtia. Moreover, visitors can visit the house, where the great Cretan painter El Greco (Dominikos Theotokopoulos) is believed to have been born in Fodele, and the Gate Bethlehem at the Walls of Heraklion, where objects used for the film El Greco are exposed. Lastly, Viannos houses a museum dedicated to the author Ioannis Kondylakis.

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El Greco Museum

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The museum of the painter Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco) is located opposite the Byzantine Church of Panagia at position Theotokiana, by Fodele.

Center of Mediterranean Architecture (Great Shipyard)

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It is hosted in the Great Shipyard (Arsenali) of Chania, the last of the 17 shipyards located in the Venetian port of Chania. The construction of the building started in 1585 by Alvise Grimani.

Museum of Contemporary Art of Crete

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It is based in the heart of the old historic town, under the Venetian wall and the Archaeological Museum. It is housed in a Venetian building that operated (in the early 20th century until the 70s) as a soap factory and is now a modern museum around covering about 1000 sq.m.

Xotaris Art Forum

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At Arhanes we meet the unique museum - private collection of engravings and exlibris in Greece. The exhibits include lithographs, ex libris, free graphics, thumbnails, etc.

Heraklion Museum of Visual Arts

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The Museum of Visual Arts in Heraklion is a private art museum. It was founded in May 2000 by Kostas Schizakis. Its activities include organizing educational seminars and lectures on artistic creation.

Wood Carving Museum at Axos

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At Axos village, at the foot of Psiloritis mount we meet the two storey exhibition with more than a hundred sculptures, handmade works of art, all made from a hammer and a chisel.

Nikos Xylouris House

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Near the central square of Anogia you can visit the humble house of Nikos Xylouris, the most famous singer and lyra player of Crete (lyra is the Cretan traditional instrument). The house - museum is basically a small room where there are relics and photographs of the legendary Xylouris and which have been formed by his sister Zouboulia.

Saint Mark Basilica

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The Municipal Gallery of Heraklion is hosted in the Basilica of Saint Mark in the center of Heraklion, just opposite the famous Lions’ fountain. The basilica was built by the Venetians in 1239, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1303 but restored immediately,

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