Museum of Typography Yiannis & Eleni Garedakis

Located in Souda, Chania, the Museum of Typography Yiannis & Eleni Garedakis presents the evolution of typography and printing from the 15th century to the present, featuring interactive exhibits and rare publications.

Planning your visit

The Museum of Typography was founded by a Cretan newspaper publisher, Yiannis Garedakis, and it sits in the industrial park at Souda near Chania — an unglamorous setting for a genuinely absorbing collection.

The exhibition traces printing from the fifteenth century to the digital present: hand-set movable type, wooden and metal fonts, composing sticks, Linotype and Monotype machines, lithographic and letterpress equipment, much of it working and demonstrated. Rare publications, early Greek printing and the newspaper trade fill the rest.

Greek typography has its own history worth knowing, since Greek type had to be cut separately from Latin and its development ran on a distinct track through Venice and later Athens.

The craft dimension is what holds people: setting a line of type by hand, letter by letter and backwards, is a physical process almost nobody now witnesses.

Allow ninety minutes. Bookable options include guided tours. Current availability is listed below.