The Museum was built between 1976 and 1982 and inaugurated in 1988.
In 1992 the Association donated the Museum and its assets to the National Trust of the Hellenic State and thus created a Public benefit foundation under the name of Museum of the Cretan Ethnology Foundation are supervised an subsidized by the Hellenic ministry of Culture..
The exhibition, following the exhibitive model of G.H. Rivière (ATP-Paris) presents itself on 500 m²
on two floors.
It presents 2.500 objects from all over Crete, witch reflect life in the Cretan Province during the second millenium AD.