The Antalya Archaeological Museum is one of Turkey’s largest museums, located in Antalya. It includes 13 exhibition halls and an open air gallery. It covers an area of 7,000 m2 (75,000 sq ft) and has 5000 works of art are exhibited. In addition a further 25,000–30,000 artifacts which cannot be displayed are in storage. As a museum exhibiting examples of works, which illuminate the history of the Mediterranean and Pamphylia regions in Anatolia, Antalya Museum is one of the most important of Turkey’s museums. The Museum won the “European Council Special Prize” in 1988.
At the end of the World War I, during the time when Antalya was under the Italian military occupation, Italian archeologists started to remove the archeological treasures that had been found in the center or the surroundings to the Italian Embassy, which they claimed to do in the name of civilization. To prevent these initiatives, Süleyman Fikri Bey, the Sultan’s teacher, applied to the Antalya post and jurisdiction of the provincial Governor in 1919 and had himself appointed as voluntary curator of antiquities and first tried to establish the Antalya Museum by collecting what remained in the center.
The museum at first operated in the Alâeddin Mosque in 1922, then in Yivli Minare Mosque beginning from 1937, and then moved to its present building in 1972. It was closed to visitors for a wide range of modifications and restorations in 1982. It was reorganized according to a modern approach for a museum and opened to the public in April 1985, after the restorations and display arrangements made by the General Directorate of Ancient Objects and Museums.
Roman Dancer at Antalya Archaeological Museum
Bronze age burial practice around here (for some): in a big amphora jar
Three Graces in Antalya Archaeological Museum
This is a small museum with a big collection of quality artifacts. The statuary is wonderful and I was struck by the range and quality of the pieces on display. It is an easy museum to get around and the cost of admission was very little. This is a great reference point if you plan to visit some of the…
everything excellent. the display the quality of artifacts. information all excellent should spend about 3-4 hours
This museum was a great surprise as we didn't expect such a collection of ancient statues and artifacts on display there.
There are different sections, all very well organized and described by the audioguide available for just 5TLR at the entrance: obviously the classic and ellenistic rooms with perfect Roman replicas of Greek originals and the marble sarcophagies are a…
Get ready to see more than expected; includes a lot structures.
Anatolia is full of history and archaeological digs continue to this day. If time is limited and you can't get to all the various ruins in the region, take a walk through this museum in Antalya and it will give you an excellent overview.
my review is not about an attraction but a city that is both ancient and modern ie antalya.the bus station in antalya is so clean that you can eat from the floor.i was recommended by the owner of santosa pension in kaz to take a bus to antalya because of the coastal scenery en route to goreme. i was not…
We travelled by tram to the museum easy to get to across the road and 50 metres to the entrance. It wasn't crowded and we were amazed at how close we could get to the statues etc.
In Australia most of our 'art works' or treasures are roped off metres away.
The statues of Hadrian, Hercules, Apollo and Zeus are…
The artifacts are so impressive. If you are into Roman statues you will be impressed. Take advantage of the recorded on demand tour that is offered for five Turkish Lira. It makes every exhibit come alive. They have done an exceptional job of history being displayed for the Anatalya region.
We were underwhelmed by our visit to the museum. A lot of the initial exhibits are only described in Turkish and the marble sculptures were only mildly interesting (this may be because we had seen similar works on our trip to Italy).
Everything, great museum with lots of interesting artefacts, go you will not regret, entrance is little expensive