Antalya Museum

Antalya, Republic of Türkiye
Region: Konyaaltı
Theme: Archaeological Museum
Visits: July, 2023

Website	Location

On a trip to Antalya, my wife Milene and her friend Fernanda visited the Antalya Museum to learn a little about the history of this incredible city and ancient civilization. The visit produced some of the photos that #MuseumOnTheRoad will present in this post.

After the First World War, in 1919, Suleyman Fikri ERTEN took action on attempts to move antiquities that the Italians had seen exposed during the occupation of Antalya to the Italian Consulate. Süleyman Fikri Bey, who was a teacher at Antalya High School, started his attempts to establish a museum by applying to the Antalya Governorship and having him appointed as an honorary Asar-ı Atika officer on October 15, 1919.

First of all, he collected the ancient artifacts in the abandoned Bayraktar Baba Tomb opposite the Tekeli Mehmet Pasha Mosque and created a warehouse museum. The first museum building was created after the artifacts were moved to the Panaya Church (Alâaddin Mosque), one of the five churches left by the Greeks after the population exchange in 1922. In 1937, the Museum was moved to the Yivli Minare Mosque and then to the building that is in use today in 1972. Antalya Museum serves an area of 30,000 square meters.

Apart from the indoor exhibition halls and open-air galleries in the museum; there is a children’s section, a modern art exhibition hall, a conference hall, a cafeteria, and a video screening hall, and many works are exhibited in a wide range from the Lower Paleolithic Age to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Period.

Among them are; Natural History and Prehistory Collection, Regional and Museum Rescue Excavations Collection, ceramics and terracotta artifacts reflecting the Classical Age and Roman Period pottery tradition, the sculpture group containing mostly Perge origin friezes, mythological characters, God and Emperor statues, urns, and sarcophagi reflecting the burial traditions; In addition to these, jewelry, coins, mosaics, icons, metal and glass works come to the fore.

Hall of Coin, Small Artifacts and Icons. The most significant parts of this part of the Museum are ‘Elmalı Coins’ which are called the ‘Treasure of the Century’.

The most precious pieces that make this collection valuable, including coins issued by the cities comprising the union against the Persians, are monumental coins, which are very rare all over the world, issued when the Greeks defeated the Persians. In the hall, you can see the coins of all civilizations in Antalya’s rich history, finds unearthed in shipwrecks, jewelry and icons, as well as the Anatolian coin minting tradition and techniques.

Sarcophagi Hall. Sarcophagi in which important and wealthy people in general were placed after death in the Antique Age are also the works that reflect their understanding of art.

A few floral motifs and also some very complex figures are used in the decoration on these sarcophagi. Most of the sarcophagi that can be seen in the Sarcophagi Hall belong to the ancient city of Perga. The most popular ones are the Sarcophagus of Domitias belonging to a married couple apparently not separated after death, the Heracles Sarcophagus depicting the 12 tasks of Heracles, and the Garland Sarcophagus decorated with floral motifs.

Emperors’ Hall. The sculptures of Roman emperors, all of which were found during excavations in the ancient city of Perga, are among the masterpieces of Roman art.

The Dancer Sculpture, which is a symbol of Antalya Museum, is exhibited here besides the emperor sculptures. This sculpture, which was assembled after being discovered in pieces, is one of the most admired works of the Museum with its monumentality and fine details and vitality.

The Antalya Museum is a great archaeological museum located in the Antalya city center. With its unique masterpieces of its kind, it is one of the most important and leading museums in both Turkey and in the world. The museum is a must-visit for anyone interested in ancient civilizations and the history of Turkey. With an extensive collection of artifacts spanning thousands of years, the museum provides a fascinating insight into the region’s rich past.

Antalya Regional Museum consists of 13 exhibition rooms, 1 open-air exhibition area, laboratories, a storeroom, repair shops, a photographic room, a conference hall, administrative offices, a cafeteria and living quarters for museum officials.