Maritime Museum Crete

The Nautical Museum of Crete is located directly in the Venetian port of Chania, the second largest city on the island of Crete. The old town is one of the most beautiful in Greece and is very popular among tourists. Besides the Archaeological Museum of Chania, the Nautical Museum is the most important museum of the city.

For the most part it is a shipping museum. It presents the history of shipping and shipbuilding. The focus is on military ships. That is why the Nautical Museum of Crete is sometimes called the Naval Museum.

The museum consists of two parts. Both are at the port of Chania, but about 500 meters apart. In the actual museum, for example, there are ship models, all kinds of objects from seafaring and much more.

The second part is a hall in which ships are standing in their original size. There is the most famous object of the Nautical Museum in Chania. It is a replica of a Minoan ship from the Bronze Age. The boat was christened "Minoa" and after its completion in 2004 it was tested for several thousand kilometres.

Admission 2024 Nautical Museum Chania

The entrance fee to the Nautical Museum of Crete is 3 Euro, students with ID, children etc. pay 2 Euro. The other part of the Navigation Museum in the Old Warehouse costs 2 Euro for adults and 1 Euro at a reduced rate. If you buy both tickets together, you save one euro, so adults pay an entrance fee of 4 euros for both exhibitions together. In the "Maritime Museum of Crete" there is a lot to see for little money!

Guided tours of the Maritime Museum of Crete are offered every second Saturday of the month.

Opening Hours Nautical Museum Crete

The Nautical Museum of Crete has no rest day, only on important holidays it is closed.

Opening hours winter (November to April): every day 9 to 15 o'clock

Opening hours summer (May to October): Sunday 10 to 18 o'clock, all other weekdays 9 to 17 o'clock.

Status of data: April 2017

Location and Directions

Both the location and the museum building itself are beautiful. The Nautical Museum is housed in the old Firka Fortress, on the shore of the Venetian harbour. This old port is the tourist centre of the city and for many Crete connoisseurs the most beautiful place in Crete. The other part of the museum is located in the east of the port in an old bastion. The whole area is a pedestrian zone. If you arrive by car, you look for a parking place somewhere in Chania and walk to the old harbour. Hardly a visitor comes only because of the Martitime Museum. The whole Venetian harbour and the old town is one of the top sightseeings of the island Crete, the museum is a part of it.

Description of the

The main museum in the western part of the harbour: The Nautical Museum is located in the old fortress Firka. The construction of the fort was begun by the Venetians in the 13th century, but was not completed until the 17th century. The museum has been in existence since 1973.

Some areas are: The Bronze Age (Minoan), the Byzantine period, the struggle for independence from the Turks, the Balkan wars (1912 and 1913), the Second World War and the modern post-war period. All these themes are presented from the point of view of seafaring and the navy. There are many models of ships, but also pictures, films and much more. In a further room many different shells are exhibited.

In the other museum building almost everything revolves around the replica of the Minoan ship Minoa from the Bronze Age. You can see the boat from all sides, there are many explanations. The Minoa was completed for the Olympic Games in Athens 2004. Only materials and techniques already known in the Bronze Age were used in the construction of the ship. The sailing and rowing ship is 17 meters long. The Minoa was tested in 2004. She sailed from Crete via many islands to Athens. The Olympic flame was also transported on the Minoa. The boat was built in the port of Chania between 2001 and 2003. The replica is based on a Minoan ship around 1,500 BC.

In both museums all descriptions of the exhibits are in Greek and English, but not in German. We think that every tourist who is interested in the history of Crete should visit the Nautical Museum in the port of Chania. As the entrance is very cheap, hardly any tourist will regret the visit of the museum. Moreover, the two parts of the museum are in the middle of the historical part of Chania. Thus, almost every visitor of the city passes the two nautical museums anyway.

Names of the museum

In the Internet and in literature many names appear for the Musuem discussed on this page.

In German: Nautical Museum Crete, but also Naval Museum, Maritime Museum and Maritime Museum. Since for example also mussels are exhibited, one could call it also Meeresmuseum. But the focus is clearly on ships, from the Minoans to the present day.

In English: Maritime Museum of Crete (probably the official name) and Nautical Museum of Crete are the most read. The second part with the ship Minoa is called: "Permanent Exhibition of Ancient and Traditional Shipbuilding (Shipyard Moro)".