The new archeological museum of Chania in the area of Halepa, which will open its gates to the public tomorrow Saturday, was visited tonight the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Mr. Mitsotakis, who is the first visitor of the museum, was guided for about an hour to its premises, by the Minister of Culture Lina Mendoni and the head of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Chania Eleni Papadopoulou.
Also present were MPs Dora Bakoyannis, Manousos Voloudakis and Vassilis Digalakis, the governor of Crete Stavros Arnaoutakis, the mayor of Chania Panagiotis Simandirakis and representatives of institutions and the wife of Prime Minister Marevas Grampos.
The Prime Minister stated in a statement that he is doubly excited as the new museum opens its gates tomorrow as well as for the fact that it hosts the Mitsotakis collection.
As he pointed out, “The museum is a reference point of Cretan culture but also of all the influences it received in the depths of the centuries”.
At the same time, he stressed that the new museum is housed in a state-of-the-art bioclimatic building, stressing that “the new museum will significantly upgrade Chania as an autonomous cultural destination as it deserves in the city.”
Referring to the collection of Konstantinos and Marika Mitsotaki He did not hide his emotion, pointing out that they wanted this collection, which was for them a work of life, to be the property of the entire Greek people.
For her part, the Minister of Culture announced that from tomorrow Saturday the entrance to the museum will be free, emphasizing that “through this museum we are given the opportunity to offer to the citizens these unique cultural goods”.
The new museum exhibits more than 3,500 objects, of which about 1,000 for the first time. Among the exhibits, an important place is occupied by the collection of antiquities of Konstantinos and Marikas Mitsotakis, which for the first time will be exhibited in its entirety. The collection came to the Greek state in April 2000, following the opinion of the Central Archaeological Council, which accepted the donation from the owners.
The exhibits of the museum follow the course through time, which penetrates the prehistoric settlements and the cities of the historical times of the regional unit of Chania, highlighting the social and administrative organization, the religion, the trade, the daily life of their inhabitants. It is structured in five thematic axes that are presented in parallel and through digital media.
The first axis concerns the acquaintance with the history of the museum of Chania, while the second introduces the visitor to the new exhibition through visual and digital material as well as archaeological findings, concerning the new museum and the archaeological research in the area of Chania, the history of the excavations and the place of Crete in the wider Mediterranean environment.
The other two thematic axes are the largest as they relate to the prehistoric and historical period which presents the cultures that developed in the region of Chania from the prehistoric period to the late Roman years. In fact, the visitor’s acquaintance with the history of the place, starts from the first presence of people in Gavdos of the Paleolithic era.
In the same axes are developed individual thematic units with findings from caves, pre-palace settlements, Kydonia with the “Seal of the Hegemon” and the daily life of the Minoans, the Asclepieion of Lissos.
The fifth theme concerns private collections – donationsamong which the dominant position is the collection of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, which is presented in its entirety and not part of it, as had been done in the old museum on Halidon Street, due to lack of space.
The building of the New Archaeological Museum was completed within the framework of the Regional Operational Program of Crete – NSRF 2007-2013. The organization of the exhibition and the equipment of the warehouses was financed with 3,300.00 euros from the Regional Operational Program of Crete – NSRF 2014-2020, as well as from resources of the Public Investment Program of the Ministry of Culture and the Region of Crete. It has an area of 6,000 square meters and is a reference point for the city of Chania which acquires another important cultural space.
In addition to the exhibition spaces, it has a conference space, exhibit maintenance workshops, a refreshment room and auxiliary spaces.
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