Ancient Eleftherna

The town of Eleftherna was founded by the Dorians

Ancient Eleftherna is located 25km southeast of Rethymno, close to the Monastery of Arkadi. The town is the most important archaeological site in the prefecture of Rethymno, which has not fully been excavated and it is expected to give archaeologists many more discoveries. The first organized excavations here started in 1985 by the University of Crete.

The town of Eleftherna was founded by the Dorians around the 9th century BC and was inhabited up to the early Byzantine years. To this long course contributed its strategic location at an altitude of 380m, crossed by the roads that connected the ancient Cydonia, Knossos and Ida Mount. The findings so far have been found in three different positions of the same hill.

The Museum of ancient Eleutherna - Homer in Crete, the first archaeological site museum in Crete, although smaller in size, is similar to those of Olympia, Delphi, and Vergina. The museum was created to house the results of the excavations carried out for thirty years in the ancient city of Eleutherna.

The originality of this museum is that the objects of the permanent exhibition will be updated periodically with new and older finds, so that the public's interest is continuous and relates to the discoveries and expansion of the excavation work on the site.

The exhibition will be accompanied by original and modern audiovisual exhibits.