The permanent exhibition of the Archaeological Museum of Chania is set out in three large galleries on the ground floor and one on the upper floor of the building. On the ground floor, through the presentation of representative objects, the narrative unfolds revealing the long journey through time from the prehistoric settlements to the historical cities of Chania, highlighting their social and administrative organisation, religion, entertainment, war and trade. Aspects of everyday life are also displayed, from occupations, houses, furniture, vessels for daily use and grooming implements, to ritual customs and people’s attitude towards death. These aims are achieved using detailed and easy-to-understand timelines, maps with the sites of all the place-names mentioned, visual and digital media in Greek and English, and, of course, reconstructions providing snapshots of important moments of life in prehistoric and historical times. On the upper floor is exhibited a large part of the Konstantinos, Marika and Kyriakos Mitsotakis Collection, with objects, the majority of Cretan provenance, ranging from the 4th millennium BC to the 3rd century AD. The permanent exhibition of the Museum is enriched with displays of tactile exhibits (copies of ancient objects) accompanied by Braille captions covering the prehistoric and historic periods, as well as an audio tour.

The exhibition of the new Archaeological Museum of Chania, with its spatiotemporal and thematic organisation, its variety of visual, digital and interpretative media, and its underlying philosophy, seeks to take visitors on a journey of knowledge and aesthetics, following a specific “compass bearing” in each case, while also charting alternative courses through concepts and ideas.