Sitia Museum

People of Crete Crete Culture Crete Map Southern Crete Travel Guide Sitia Toplou Xerokampos Ancient Crete Knossos Phaistos Malia Palekastro Zakros Itanos Tripitos Beaches Museums Heraklion Sitia

The Sitia Museum houses a plethora of artifacts found mainly in Lasithi. While the most important finds from eastern Crete are exhibited at the Heraklion museum, there is enough in Sitia to warrant a visit.

This is a small museum with a well laid-out plan and many signs that explain in detail the exhibited artifacts. Like the Heraklion museum the floor is divided into the Minoan Neolithic, Pre-Palatial, Neo-Palatial, and Post-Palatial eras, while roughly one third of the space is dedicated to Classical and Hellenistic Crete.

The cases of the museum are filled with pottery and tools from Minoan culture, and most intriguing of the artifacts is the large collection of Linear A tablets from the palace of Kato Zakros. The clay tablets hardened during the fierce fire which destroyed the palace and this is how they survived to our day. The Linear A script has not yet been deciphered.

Most impressive of all the artifacts of the Sitia Museum is the small statuette known as "Palekastro Kouros". The statue's body was made of Hippopotamus ivory which was probably imported from Egypt, and the head was carved out of serpentine with eyes made of rock crystal. Its bowels were made of wood, and its clothes made of gold leaf. It was found in three pieces at the Palekastro excavations. This statue itself is worth the visit to the museum.

I visited the museum twice during the summer of 2003 and during my second visit I brought our two young daughters along with their cousins. They girls enjoyed the museum, and were most intrigued by the sarcophagus which still contained a skeleton from the necropolis of Itanos.

A leisurely visit to the Sitia museum should take about one hour, and the museum's staff was some of the most helpful I have encountered in Greek museums.

Resources

Shop: Gifts and Apparel Crete Travel Maps [Buy Maps UK Here ] Crete Travel Guides [Buy Travel Guides UK Here ] Crete Poster Browse the Greek Bookstore Explore More Maps and satellite Images Minoan Crete FREE Wallpaper Picture for your desktop More Pictures from the Sitia Museum Map of Ancient Crete

Sitia Museum Pictures

Linear A clay tablet.	Linear A script	Linear A
Stone tools and arrowheads.	Hellenistic gold ring	Bronze hooks and spears