The Archaeological Museum of Sitia was inaugurated in 1984, a hundred years after the first official excavations in the province by the Italian Archaeological School. The largest and richest set of its exhibits is composed by numerous finds from the Minoan palace of Kato Zakros, some masterpieces of Minoan art. The most famous single object of the collection is the gold and ivory statuette from the Minoan city of Palaikastro.



The museum complex includes warehouse and laboratory facilities, offices for the scientific, administrative and janitorial staff as well as a small archaeological library. After the main entrance the visitor enters the antechamber with the ticket desk and the museum shop on the right and the lavatories at the front. The main exhibition area is on the left divided into four sections through boards bearing bilingual information material. The exhibits cover a period of about 4.000 years from the Late Neolithic to the Late Roman Era. All excavation finds are organized according to the area of origin. The showcases bear five-language texts, which will become more detailed in the future without jeopardizing their overall impression.



The visitor?s tour starts from the antechamber, at the center of which stands the famous gold and ivory kouros statuette from the Minoan city of Palaikastro. It is a masterpiece of the Minoan art.



In the second section finds from the area of the Minoan palace of Kato Zakros are exhibited: gigantic jars, decorated pottery, a pithos with colored decoration and masterpieces of miniature art. Case 16 presents an important set of Linear A Script tablets from the palace?s archives.



The third section presents finds mainly from burial sites of Geometric and Archaic Sitia (10th ? 6th century B.C.). In showcase 22 the visitor can admire finds (like statuettes) from an archaic sanctuary deposit found in the city of Sitia. The forth section includes impressive exhibits dated to the Hellenistic (4th ? 2nd century B.C.) and Roman period from the areas of Xerokambos, Ziros, Trypitos, Makry Gialos, Koufonisi, etc.