Antalya Museum

Antalya Province has the richest natural and historical treasures of Turkey. This vast province not only has a long coastline and fertile lands in the Mediterranean, but also includes Lycia, Pamphylia, Cilicia and Pisidia, some of the most interesting archaeological settlements that have given uninterrupted history from the Paleolithic Age to the present. The Antalya Museum, which is among the few museums in the world with its unique collections, displays the most outstanding works that illuminate the entire history of the region.

Antalya Museum was founded in 1922 by teacher Süleyman Fikri Erten. The Museum, which was operating in the Alaaddin Mosque in Kaleiçi for a while and in the Yivli Minare Complex after 1937, moved to its current building in 1972.

Antalya Museum received the "Council of Europe Special Award" in 1988.

Antalya Museum consists of 13 exhibition halls and garden exhibitions. Most of the Archaeological artifacts in the Museum Collection were obtained from periodic excavations by local and foreign scientists in the region, while ethnographic artifacts were collected from the region by museum experts.

The exhibition begins with the finds of Karain Cave, which is of great importance not only for Anatolia but also for the Near East Paleolithic, and continues with the finds obtained from the Bademağacı, Karataş Semayük, Bayındır Tumulus, Hacımusalar, Limyra, Patara, Xanthos, Arykanda, St. Nicholas Church, Perge and Museum rescue excavations. It was carried out in a chronological order that continues until today with the most beautiful examples reflecting the recent culture of the region.

Some of the most interesting corners of the museum are; The cube tomb in the prehistory hall, the 7th century BC finds from the Elmalı-Bayindır Tumulus adorning the middle showcase of the Excavations hall, the black and white marble belly dancer statue in the Emperors Hall, an example of the Patara carved tombs on the lower floor of the new building, and again on the upper floor of the same building. Coin and Korydella treasures on display. In addition, Aspendos tiles, Seljuk Quran, writing plates such as hilye, naat, ijazet and katig made by our old calligraphers, lodge materials, weighing instruments, samples of Döşemealtı carpets woven in the villages of the region, and a 15th century Uşak carpet. It is one of the most interesting works of his.

The exhibition areas end with the typewriter and calculator of Süleyman Fikri Erten, the founder of the Museum, and a memorial showcase with the first seal of the museum.

Antalya Museum Halls
Natural History and Prehistory Hall
In this hall, I.Geological time IV. In addition to fossils belonging to various living things until the end of geological time, artifacts obtained from the Karain, Hacılar, Bademağacı, Karataş-Semayük excavations belonging to the Lower Paleolithic, Neolithic Chalcolithic and Early Bronze periods are exhibited.

Ceramics Hall
The gradual development of ceramics in chronological order from the Geometric Age (10th century BC) to the Byzantine Age (13th century AD) is exhibited. All of them came from different excavations in the area.

Regional Excavations Hall
New finds from 26 different excavations in the museum's area of responsibility are exhibited. Some of these excavations were carried out by universities and different units under the supervision of the Museum.

Emperors Hall
There are statues of the most famous Roman emperors of the second and third centuries AD, Traian, Hadrian, and Septimius Severus. All of them were found in different seasons of the Perge excavations. It is known that these magnificent sculptures are the special production of Perge workshops.

Hall of the Gods
  All of the sculptures exhibited in this hall were found in the Perge excavations, and the originals from the Hellenistic period were found in İ.S. They are copies made in the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

Mosaic Hall
One of the most impressive mosaics is the "Philosophers Mosaic" found in the agora of Pamphylia Seleucia. Famous mathematicians, orators and philosophers of the ancient period are depicted on the borders.

Marble Portraits Hall
The heads of men and women exhibited in this hall belong to the Roman Period of the 2nd century AD, some of them are idealized and some of them are depicted as featuring their personal characters.

Perge Theater Hall
All the works in this hall were unearthed in front of the Perge Theater stage building. The finds were found completely broken under the stage building, which collapsed as a result of an earthquake. After two years of restoration work, they are exhibited in the Museum.

Sarcophagus Hall
At the entrance of this hall, it is possible to see different types of sarcophagi, most of which were brought from the Perge necropolis. These were produced locally in the workshops of Perge, from Prokennessos and Dokimeion marbles. All of them are dated to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. In the second part, an example of the Patara underground burial tombs is exhibited. Again in this section, fragments of sarcophagi and tomb monuments found in Patara and Limyra, as well as stelae, inscriptions, etc., belonging to various ruins. works can be seen.

Underwater-Small Finds - Icon - Coin Hall
In this hall, the coin exhibition, which started with the coin minting technique, is exhibited in a chronological order with regional city coins as Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, European, Principality, Ottoman periods. In the other showcases in the hall, there are underwater artifacts, statuettes, jewelry, treasures and bullae. Again, the 19th century icons and the showcase where a few bones belonging to St. Nicholas are exhibited form the interesting corners of the hall.