Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos

The Archaeological Museum of Agios Nikolaos holds one of the best collections of Minoan material in Crete outside Heraklion. The exhibits cover the Bronze Age settlements of eastern Crete from the pre-palatial period to the Late Minoan era, with particularly strong displays from the sites at Pseira, Mochlos, and Zakros.

The collection includes gold jewellery, carved stone vessels, painted pottery, and the famous Minoan clay disc from Palaikastro. The museum is relatively small and can be covered in 90 minutes, making it a good choice for a cooler part of the day. It is on Konstantinou Paleologou Street, a short walk north of the lake.

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The museum's most unusual exhibit is the 'Goddess of Myrtos' — a terracotta figurine from around 2500 BC found at the Bronze Age settlement of Myrtos-Phournou Koriphi. She is a jug in human form, with a long neck, tiny pinched features, and arms that wrap around an even smaller jug she is carrying. She is strange and striking in a way that most ancient artefacts are not.

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