Antalya Archaeological Museum is located on a mountain in the western part of the city in Konyaalti district. It is one of the most important landmarks of Antalya. The history of the museum begins in 1919, when Antalya was occupied by Italian troops. At that time, Italian archaeologists came to the city in order to collect the maximum number of exhibits found during excavations and took them to Italy. Suleyman Fikri Bey, who was the teacher of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, managed to prevent the export of the cultural heritage. Later the collection was located in the Tekeli Mehmet Paşa Mosque, and the museum received its official status in 1937.
The museum has more than 2,000 exhibits. Archaeological work is ongoing, due to which the museum receives new exhibits. The museum is currently the largest museum in Turkey and is among the most famous museums in the world. The museum has 13 halls that cover an area of 7,000 square metres.
Hall 1 - Children's Hall. The artefacts of this hall are ancient piggy banks and toys. Children have the opportunity to mould a vase or statue out of clay or draw it themselves. The created creations can be presented to the museum, and you can take them as a souvenir.
Hall 2 - Natural history and prehistoric times. The hall will be interesting for lovers of ancient history. Among the exhibits are parts of the skeleton and teeth of Neanderthal, diggers, axes, scrapers, arrowheads and other implements belonging to different centuries.
Hall 3 - Miniatures-1. This hall displays the entire history of the evolution of pottery from the 12th century to BC. Vases and various jewellery of all different sizes are presented.
Hall 4 - Gods. All the exhibits in this hall are related to the gods of antiquity: statuettes representing gods; black cubes, which are a symbol of the battle of the Amazons; as well as griffins, magnificent vases, etc.
Hall 5 - Miniatures-2. Here are selected works, vases and statuettes, jewellery and utensils. One of the exhibits in this hall is a silver plate engraved with the head of the goddess Athena. In the centre of the hall are articles of Zeus, Aphrodite, Artemis, Fortuna and other gods. The statue of Hercules, made of bronze, was raised from the bottom of the sea at Phocis. Also made of bronze are statues of Apollo and Hermes. There is also an underwater showcase with exhibits that were found on sunken ships. Among the exhibits are many silver and gold jewellery.
Hall 6 - Emperors. The hall presents portraits, busts, statuettes and sculptures of emperors made of marble, clay and plaster. Portraits of Sabina, Faustina, Hadrian, Trajan, etc.
Hall 7 - Sarcophagi. Sarcophagi dating back to the time of the Roman Empire are presented. Urns and funerary steles can also be seen here.
Hall 8 - Icons. There are many icons collected in the hall.
Hall 10 - Coins. The oldest coin, presented in this hall, is more than 2500 years old.
Halls 11-13 - The sum of the three halls forms the ethnography department.
The museum also has galleries and an open-air children's hall, in which about 5000 exhibits are presented, and in the museum's vault there are about 30000 more specimens.
