The " Museum of ancient Eleutherna - Homer in Crete" , was created to accommodate the results of the excavations carried out for thirty years in the ancient city .
It is a modern building approximately 1,800 sq.m. which together with the surrounding area occupies 3 acres and remotely resembles ark that emerges from the earth, gazing Ida (Psiloritis).
It is divided into two wings with the right one on the ground floor for hosting the guards - ticketing area and the Study Centre in the left area of the exhibition halls of the museum. The architectural project was designed on a human scale, related to the natural environment, while at the same time as modern edifice is absolutely distinct and recognizable of the era in which it was created.
The large surrounding area in front of the museum features, gardens and tree planting small parking for people with disabilities and especially paved surfaces with special provisions.
On the back of the building there is car parking. In large wide in space (courtyard) on the east side of the museum has formed a natural outdoor theater for the holding of events and for the enjoyment of nature and the contemplation of aetokathistras Ida (Psiroreiti) and the peak, where was born the father of the gods, Jupiter, in the Ideon Antron. Everywhere there are trees, plants and herbs typical of the Cretan flora from antiquity to the present day.
The underground spaces throughout the building housed warehouses and modern equipped laboratories.
The Museum of ancient Eleutherna - Homer in Crete, the first archaeological site museum in Crete, although smaller in size, are similar to those of Olympia, Delphi and Vergina.
The originality of this museum is that the objects of the permanent exhibition will be updated periodically with new and older finds excavated so that the public interest is continuous and relates to the discovery and expansion of the excavation work on the site.
The exhibition will be accompanied by original and modern audiovisual exhibits.
The screen next to this display case shows a fictional rendering of the famous statue’s adventure from the moment of its discovery to the identification of its provenance by Professor N. Chr. Stampolidis. The two statues, the Eleutherna Kore and the Lady of Auxerre, were reunited for the first time since the latter was removed from Crete, probably in the late nineteenth century, at the Museum of Cycladic Art in Athens in 2004-5 for the exhibition Eleutherna: Polis, Acropolis, Necropolis.
To the right of the museum’s entrance, a topographical map introduces the visitor to the archaeological site of Eleutherna, whereas texts present the area’s history and excavations.
Standing before the entrance is the museum’s emblematic piece: a bronze shield from the Tomb of the Warriors dating to 830/20-730/20 BC. This shield belongs to a type known through several examples from the pan-Cretan sanctuary of the Idaion Andron and other sites (hence the name ‘Idaion Andron shield’), but is the only example from a well-stratified context.
One of the earliest objects of this kind, it is also one of the finest specimens of early Cretan art at the dawn of Greek civilization, related in one way or another to North Syria and Urartu. Next to the shield are modern casts for educational purposes and for those visitors who wish to explore it through touch.
CONTACT – INFORMATION
Open from Tuesday till Sunday, 8:00 -15:00. Ticket: 2 Euro From April 1st: Open from Tuesday till Sunday, 10:00-18-00. Ticket: 4 Euro, 2 Euro (reduced price)
Museum of Ancient Eleutherna
Eleutherna, Mylopotamos
Rethymno, GR–74052
Tel. and fax: 28340 92501
museum@mae.com.gr
Standing before the entrance is the museum’s emblematic piece: a bronze shield from the Tomb of the Warriors dating to 830/20-730/20 BC. This shield belongs to a type known through several examples from the pan-Cretan sanctuary of the Idaion Andron and other sites (hence the name ‘Idaion Andron shield’), but is the only example from a well-stratified context.
