The Archaeological Museum of Chania is housed in the catholic of the Venetian abbey of Saint Francis. In the past, the building was a Muslim mosque of Yousuf Pasha during the period of Ottoman occupation. Later on, it was converted into a cinema and a storehouse for military purposes. However, since 1963, it has been functioning as an Archaeological Museum.

Aside from the permanent exhibition, the museum also hosts temporary exhibitions during local events such as musical instrument exhibitions or exhibits on the birth of writing. Music concerts are also held within the museum premises.

The museum boasts a collection of Minoan discoveries from various regions of the prefecture, prehistoric finds from caves, artifacts from graves of the Geometric period, and items from historical times from various cities of the prefecture. The collections include coins, jewels from prehistoric and historical times, sculptures, inscriptions, stele, and mosaics.

Some of the most important exhibits of the museum are the Clay sealing from Kasteli, Clay tablet inscribed with signs of the Linear A script, Small clay tablets with texts in Linear B script, Clay bathtub used as a funerary sarcophagus, Clay pyxis with a representation of a kithara player, Cold disks from a female pithos burial, Head of a clay figurine from a female burial in a family rock-cut tomb, Clay figurine of a mourner from a subterranean rock-cut tomb, Mosaic floor decorated with a representation of Dionysos and Ariadne, and Bust of the Roman emperor Hadrian.