Poliou House

The Poliou House is a folklore museum located in the village Asteri in Rethymno prefecture, 13 km approximately west of Rethymno.

The Poliou House began its operation in 2009 and it is a folklore museum, a family monumental place, a traditional cafe, a tavern and a dining hall simultaneously. The space that is occupied by the museum is a traditional Cretan home, a parental home of the owner, Giorgos Polioudakis, right below his today’s house, properly configured to meet the needs of a special museum.

All rooms are decorated with objects of the past times, the dining room, the kitchen with cooking utensils, the corner with traditional looms, the bedroom with a carved crib and toys ooze the atmosphere of the 20th century. All the exhibits in the Poliou House come from houses and mansions of the surrounding area and include antique furniture, mirrors, radios, decorative items and utensils of past times, photographs from the occupation period, banknotes and coins, medals and dedications with Mantinades (sort of musical declamations sung in the rhythm of accompanying music).

The Poliou House consists of the traditional style home, the interior space that operates as a tavern and cafe and the courtyard, which can host events up to 400 people. Inside this unique museum the visitor will also find traditional occupations’ tools, which were used by a farmer, a farrier, a shoemaker, a carpenter and a builder.

The Poliou House was created to become a haunt, where anyone can come and witness the life as it used to be.