Alanya Müzesi

About Alanya Müzesi

Alanya Museum, also known as the Alanya Archaeological Museum, is the state museum of Alanya, run by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It was founded in 1967, when its first exhibits, from the Early Bronze Age, Urartian, Phrygian and Lydian periods, were supplied by the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. The museum was refurbished in 2012 and has archaeological and ethnographic sections. The best-known piece is a bronze statue of Heracles from the 2nd century AD, about 52 cm tall, which has its own room, the Heracles Hall. The Hall of Anatolian Civilizations shows everyday objects of glass, bronze and terracotta, jewellery, grave goods and sculpture from the Palaeolithic onwards, and there are sections on coins, on seafaring and on Alanya Castle. Other notable exhibits include amphorae recovered by fishermen off Antiochia and Kragos, a 46-line letter from the Roman emperor Septimius Severus thanking the citizens of Syedra, and a Phoenician inscription on grey stone dated to 625 BC. The ethnographic displays cover the traditional crafts of the Yoruk people of the Alanya area, including goat-hair and saddle bags, garments, textiles, cookware and handwritten documents, with a room set up to show everyday life. The museum garden holds Roman funerary monuments and Seljuk, Ottoman and Republican-era gravestones, and a wing devoted to ancient agriculture, including olive oil production. The Ministry's museum page lists the museum as open every day from 08:30 to 18:45 and states that it is open to visitors; the Museum Card is valid for Turkish citizens. The museum is at Saray Mahallesi, I. Hilmi Balci Sokak No:2. Check the official page before visiting, as hours can change.