A fascinating collection of historical documents is housed in the Historical Archive of Crete
The Historical Archive of Crete was founded in 1920, as a regional department of the General Archives of the State. Today, the Historical Archive of Crete is housed in a neoclassical building in Chania and it comprises the largest regional historical Archive of the Country, aiming at the collection, protection and research of archives and relics related to the Cretan history.
Stay in the center of Chania Town
The over 200 archival collections of the Institute include about 1.000.000 public and private documents from 1821 to date. An important section comprises the complete record of Cretan Press, which includes rare printed papers, such as the “Vakai Girit” (“The Voice of Crete”), the first newspaper printed on the island in 1831 by the Egyptian authorities.
It’ s worth mentioning that the newspaper was printed in both languages, namely Greek and Arabic. The archival material is complemented by a rich photographical collection, as well as by a specialized library with approximately 10.000 titles of books, among them some rare editions. A valuable addition is also the folklore archive of Pavlos Vlastos.
