“The Ring of Minos”

The Ring of Minos’ (1450-1400 B.C.) archaeological and aesthetic value stems from the insight it provides into Minoan religious iconography. It is a signet ring made of solid gold, which weighs 32 grams and measures 3.55 x 2.35 cm. These characteristics suggest that the owner of the ring was of high administrative rank. It is regarded as one of the most representative examples of Minoan art, which was characterized by abstraction (reduction to specific symbols without elaboration), a code (visual writing understood by all), and narrative (through myths created by the people).

It depicts three levels with scenes of theophany (gods appearing to humans), representing Minoan sovereignty over heaven, earth, and sea. It is an extremely rare narrative in that it depicts the works and days of a deity, rather than simply their worship. The representation shows the goddess descending from the sky, sitting on an altar, and observing the tree worship performed in her honor before finally rowing away in a boat transporting a temple (according to another interpretation, the vessel itself is a temple).

Equally fascinating is the ring’s journey through modern times until it was eventually brought to the museum. In 1926, Michail Papadakis found it by chance in a vineyard near Knossos. Because it was made of precious material, his family kept the ring, but two years later they sold it to local priest Nikos Polakis, who showed it to Spyros Marinatos in 1930. Marinatos questioned its authenticity because no other artifacts of the same style had yet been discovered. Archaeologist Nikos Platonas disagreed, so he photographed it and kept a copy in his archives. When Sir Arthur Evans, who was then residing at Villa Ariadne, learned of it, he made the decision to excavate the site, where he found a series of large royal tombs along with a burial deposit consisting of jewelry. He continued the excavation and unearthed the tomb-sanctuary, a rare architectural structure with Egyptian architectural characteristics, believed to be a royal burial site. Meanwhile, although the trail of the ring was lost, Evans had already given it the name “The Ring of Minos,” based on the myth of Theseus and King Minos, who threw his ring into the sea and asked Theseus to prove that he was the son of Poseidon by retrieving it. Finally, in 2002, Polakis’s grandson discovered the ring hidden in his grandfather’s chimney and delivered it to the Archaeological Museum, where it is now on display after being authenticated.

See also: On the first floor, look for the inscription that reveals that the Cretans developed their own alphabet based on the Phoenician one in the 8th-7th centuries BC.

Model representing Candia (Irakleio)

The 15-square-meter model of Chandax (Irakleio) at its peak in the mid-17th century is reason enough to visit the museum. It is a reconstruction based on the cartography of Werdmuller, Coronelli, and Klontza, focusing on the 450 years of Venetian rule, which has left traces that are visible in the city to this day. It primarily features Venetian buildings, but the exhibits also include Ottoman works created after the 1856 earthquake. A characteristic example is the iconic Church of the Savior (Sotiros), which was converted into the Valide (Falté) Mosque and then housed a Gymnasium, before finally being demolished in 1970. Today, it is the site of Kornarou Square, which includes the Ibrahim Aga fountain and the Bebo spring, examples of the trend of reusing materials that developed in Irakleio due to a lack of resources.

See also: The museum hosts the only two works by Domenikos Theotokopoulos (El Greco, 1541-1614) that are on display in Crete: “The Baptism of Christ” (1567) and “View of Mount Sinai and the Monastery of St. Catherine” (1570). The exceptional reconstruction of Nikos Kazantzakis’s study from his home in Antibes, France, is also on display. In a letter to the Society of Cretan Historical Studies in 1957, Kazantzakis wrote, “I will give away what I hold most precious – my entire library, manuscripts, and personal belongings that I loved and used. A perfect replica of my desk at the Great Castle. This will help preserve my cell, where a Cretan spiritual worker toiled for many years.”

The archive of Giorgos and Maro Seferis

The Vikelaia Library now houses the archive of Giorgos and Maro Seferis in its entirety, following a donation from the poet’s stepdaughter, Anna Londou, who passed away in 2022. After the poet’s death, Maro Seferis donated most of it, a total of 4,733 titles, keeping only 887 as personal mementos. Now complete, the collection includes works of modern Greek, French, and English literature, contemporary philosophy, as well as law, economics, religion, and other subjects.

As the dedications reveal, most of the books were given to the poet by their authors, including M. Karagatsis, T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, and Angelos Sikelianos. 2,000 volumes bear a serial number based on the handwritten catalog prepared by Seferis himself, while the majority bear an ex libris featuring a mermaid or his monogram in a rectangular frame.

See also: Since May 2018, the Vikelaia Library has been operating the Post-Incunabula Conservation Laboratory, which preserves books that were printed in Europe from 1500 to 1800 or before 1500. Conservator Vasilis Panagakis patiently cleans and restores them before storing them in acid-free boxes. The oldest post-incunabulum to be found at Vikelaia is the 9 Comedies of Aristophanes (1498), whose restoration took about seven months.

Perdikes Triptych, Thomas Fanourakis

Few artists left as lasting an impression on the art scene of Irakleio from the interwar period onwards as Thomas Fanourakis (1915-1993). A graduate of the Athens School of Fine Arts, Fanourakis worked at the Irakleio Archaeological Museum, producing technical drawings of archaeological findings. At the same time, he designed costumes and sets for theatrical performances. The Municipal Art Gallery logo, an impressively large triptych on display in the Vikelaia Library’s bookstore, is inspired by his work “Perdikes” (1984). “Charismatic, severe, uncompromising, and with a great sense of humor, he was a master of color. He knew by heart what amounts to mix to get the shade he wanted,” says Aristea Plevri, Deputy Mayor of Culture. Fanourakis’s works are regularly exhibited at the Basilica of Aghios Markos as part of the temporary exhibition program of the Municipal Art Gallery.

See also: Every Friday for the past 11 years, a work from the collection is posted on the gallery’s website, along with information about the artist.

The Deinotherium

The Deinotherium (Deinotherium giganteum), the third-largest mammal in the world, lived in Crete seven million years ago. It measured 4.5 meters in height and 6.5 meters in length and its skeleton is expected to be displayed at the entrance of the museum, which is currently undergoing renovation. This is the most important paleontological find on the island, so a reconstruction of the Deinotherium and some of its bones are housed in a display case in the Paleontology Hall until then. Nearly 60% of the skeleton of this incredibly rare specimen was recovered when it was discovered in an olive grove close to Aghia Fotia in 2002.

See also: Enceladus, an earthquake simulator that replicates a classroom environment where you can experience the effects of an earthquake, and “Erevnotopos,” a space with miniature simulations of Mediterranean ecosystems that has been specifically designed for children and is equipped with interactive games.

Replica of the lifting tripod

The lifting tripod (6th century BC) is the first vertical lifting crane of antiquity associated with Crete. It resembles a tripod, and the load was lifted from the top by means of pulleys and a rotating shaft. Prior to the development of this technology, the construction of megalithic structures required a large group of people to work together to move heavy things horizontally on an inclined plane. These new machines, combined with various types of winches and wheeled vehicles, gradually led to the miracles of Greek construction that date from the 5th and 6th centuries BC. Even today, lifting technology is still improving on the systems developed by ancient engineers.

See also: The Therapne of Philon (3rd century BC), the first robot in human history, which was “programmed” to serve neat or watered wine to guests according to their preferences.