Chania’s history dates back millennia to somewhere around 2200 BC, when the Minoans founded the ancient city-state of Kydonia on this same spot. Housed in the Gothic Church of San Francesco, a light and airy vaulted space (built by the Venetians and later used as a mosque by Turks), this museum holds archeological finds from western Crete dating from Neolithic times through to the Roman era. There’s a wealth of Minoan ceramics, painted burial urns, gold jewelry, and clay tablets with inscriptions. Other notable exhibits include peculiar clay figurines of bird-faced women, votive ceramic bulls, a third-century Roman mosaic floor, and an impressive marble bust of Roman Emperor Hadrian