Antalya Museum (Antalya Müzesi)

Description:

• If you do only one cultural thing in Antalya, make it this. Antalya province is endowed with one of the richest cultural heritages in Turkey, and much of it can be seen at this museum. More than 5,000 archaeological works are displayed in 14 thought-provoking exhibit halls. The Prehistory section includes an amazing collection of artifacts recovered from the Karain Cave at Burdur -- the largest inhabited cave in Turkey, with findings dating back 50,000 years and representing the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Bronze ages. The Gallery of the Gods gives you the chance to walk among the protagonists of classic mythology, through grand statues of Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Aphrodite, and the like, followed by statues of the emperor/gods Hadrian and Traian in the Roman Room. The Sarcophagus Gallery is a rich exhibition of intricately carved tombs, one of which was considerately returned by the J. Paul Getty Museum, after having found its way out of the country. There are also small but important exhibitions featuring the Byzantine period, which houses a collection of religious icons, and the Selçuk and Ottoman periods, where you'll find ceramic artifacts, calligraphy, copper, carvings, and carpets. The Antalya Museum devotes an entire room to coins; the chronological display represents 2,500 years of Anatolian history. Considering that this is such a rich collection, it's positively mind-boggling to realize that 25,000 to 30,000 artifacts are buried in storage.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010