SIGHTS
Natural History Museum
The Museum of Natural History of Crete or MFIK of the University of Crete was founded in December 1980 by presidential decree within the Faculty of Science of the University of Crete.
SIGHTS
The museum has from time to time changed the exhibition spaces of its collections. The first exhibition opened in May 1994 at the Venetian Fortress of Koule in Heraklion. The second exhibition took place in August 1994 in Siva (Pyrgiotissis) while the third exhibition took place in March 1995 in Rethymno. The fourth exhibition took place from June to November 1995 at the Venetian Youth in Heraklion. The fifth exhibition took place from June to November 1997 in Neoria Chania.
In June 1998, the museum rented, repaired and arranged an 800 m2 building in Heraklion, at 157 Leoforos Knossou Street, which functioned as an exhibition space until June 2005. In that exhibition, the geologically, ecologically and culturally complex area is approached of the eastern Mediterranean with realistic representations of ecosystems, exhibits from the Museum's collections, photographic material, plans and explanatory texts.
Today the museum exhibition is housed in the renovated building of the Old Electric Company of Heraklion, on Sofoklis Venizelou Avenue (Dermata Bay), which was granted by the Municipality of Heraklion for this purpose.
In 2012, the Natural History Museum of Crete was awarded by the Academy of Athens for its contribution to the promotion of scientific knowledge and public awareness in matters of environmental and ecosystem protection.
The Museum of Natural History of Crete (MHIK) offers its visitors a unique experience. In its exhibition spaces, which cover 3,500 m 2, the natural environment of Crete is highlighted, in an impressive and innovative way, compared to that of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.
On the four different levels of the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to browse:
- in Dioramas, i.e. representations of nature in natural size
- to the Giant Deinotherio, the largest prehistoric animal of Crete that lived on the island 8.5 million years ago
- in the Living Museum, with live animals characteristic of the region
- in the Research site, a space specially designed for children where they can explore the nature of Crete through interactive games
- in Enceladus, an experiential earthquake simulator where the visitor can feel real earthquakes that have occurred in different parts of the world.
In 2016 it hosted three periodic exhibitions. " Extreme Dinosaurs " is about dinosaurs with impressive and extreme features and takes us back millions of years, introduces us to the most special creatures of that time and allows us to walk among animated dinosaurs in life size, from the largest to the smallest dinosaur, the oldest, the fastest but also the most famous T-rex. The second exhibition, " Light Mysteries ", includes holograms, experiments and optical illusions. The third periodic exhibition is entitled " Crete, a continent on an island" and includes a multitude of exhibits and micro-views on the biodiversity and geo-diversity of Crete.
In all areas of the Museum the visitor can browse freely or be guided by the specialized tour guides-museum educators.