Most visitors to the recreated traditional village of Arolithos arrive on tour buses for a quick wander and a peek inside the small Museum of Rural History & Folks Crafts, where household and agricultural items illustrate various facets of country life.
Museum of Rural History & Folks Crafts
Iraklio Province
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
7.29 MILES
Crete’s most famous historical attraction is the Palace of Knossos, the grand capital of Minoan Crete, located 5km south of the city of Iraklio. The…
Heraklion Archaeological Museum
5.99 MILES
This state-of-the-art museum is one of the largest and most important in Greece. The two-storey revamped 1930s Bauhaus building makes a gleaming showcase…
18.16 MILES
Gortyna (also Gortyn or Gortys) has been inhabited since Neolithic times but reached its pinnacle after becoming the capital of Roman Crete from around 67…
22.09 MILES
Phaestos was the second-most-important Minoan palace-city after Knossos and enjoys an awe-inspiring setting with panoramic views of the Messara Plain and…
22.93 MILES
The 16th-century Arkadi Monastery, 23km southeast of Rethymno, has deep significance for Cretans. As the site where hundreds of cornered locals massacred…
13.79 MILES
Although just a huge and fairly featureless hole in the ground, Ideon has sacred importance in mythology as the place where Zeus was reared by his mother,…
20.6 MILES
A must-see for anyone visiting the ruins of Eleutherna is the accompanying modern museum that contextualises the ancient city through the exhibition of…
17.61 MILES
About 2km outside the village of Melidoni is this stunning cathedral-like cave, an evocative underworld of stalactites and stalagmites. A place of worship…
Nearby Iraklio Province attractions
0.02 MILES
Built in the mid-1980s as a way to preserve and showcase Cretan life, Arolithos is a reasonably authentic-looking recreation of a traditional Cretan…
5.25 MILES
Iraklio burst out of its walls long ago, but these massive fortifications, with seven bastions and four gates, are still very conspicuous, dwarfing the…
5.49 MILES
In an imaginatively recycled power station, a 10-minute walk west from 25 Avgoustou along the waterfront, this museum uses huge dioramas and a terrarium…
5.51 MILES
A simple tomb in the well-preserved Martinengo Bastion south of the city centre honours Nikos Kazantzakis (1883–1957), Crete’s most acclaimed 20th-century…
5.61 MILES
One of Greece’s largest cathedrals, with space for 8000 worshippers, Agios Minas was constructed (with interruptions) between 1862 and 1895 and dedicated…
5.64 MILES
Housed in a 13th-century monastery that was later a mosque, this tiny but fascinating museum features well-displayed historic religious artworks from…
5.7 MILES
If you’re wondering what Crete’s been up to for the past, say, 1700 years, a spin around this engagingly curated museum is in order. Exhibits hopscotch…
5.73 MILES
Iraklio's only remaining Turkish-era pump house once supplied drinking water to the local population.