The Historical Archive of Crete was founded in 1920 and its headquarters are in Chania. It is a public inter-prefecture service, a decentralized department of the General Archives of the State and it is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education.  It is hosted in a neoclassic building, preserved by the state, and is located on the street I. Sfakianaki no. 20.

Nowadays, the Historical Archive of Crete has achieved such a high level of work that it is considered to be the most significant regional Historical Archive in our country in terms of content, volume and valuable material. The aim and mission of the Historical Archive of Crete is the collection, classification, recording, preservation and promotion of all kinds of archives and artifacts related to Cretan history. The archive material concerns the whole region of Crete and it includes approximately 1,000,000 historical documents from 1821 until today. The Archive is organized in more than 200 collections, including:

• The official correspondence during the Cretan Revolutions of 1821-1830, 1866-1869, 1877-1878, 1895-1898 and 1905
• The private archive collections and material that belonged to the rebels and to other prominent figures
• The archives of Cretan fighters
• The archives of the Turkish Administration in Crete
• The archives of the Central Translation Office of Crete
• The archives of the Cretan Government and from the German Occupation
• Various administrative, judicial, and church archives
• The valuable folklore archive of Pavlos Vlastos
• A large photographic material with approximately 3,000 photographs and a complete record of the Cretan Press from 1831
• A specialized Library containing about 10,000 books
• A museum with a large collection of valuable historical and folklore artifacts, and much more...

Contact Information

Responsible: Simandiraki Zaxarenia
Address :I.Sfakianaki 20, 73134 Chania
tel.& fax: 0030 28210 52606
e-mail: iakr@otenet.gr, history@gak.chan.sch.gr
web site: http://gak.chan.sch.gr/history
Opening Hours : 9:00 - 13:00 except Saturday and Sunday