11 Best Sights in The Turquoise Coast, Turkey

The province of Antalya has a rich array of archaeological sites and their assembled finds means a first-rate collection at the Antalya Müzesi. The star is Perge, statues from which fill gallery after gallery here, including one just for the gods, from Aphrodite to Zeus. There are also Turkish crafts, costumes, and prehistoric artifacts from the Karain Cave, with bits of Byzantine iconography and some fossils thrown in. One gallery is filled with fine Roman sarcophagi from the 2nd century AD, including a wonderful one illustrating the labors of a steadily aging Hercules. Upstairs are several coin hordes; the large one from Elmalı was recently returned to the museum after being smuggled to the United States. If you have the time, walk to the museum from the center of town along the clifftop promenade, which has a fine sea view.

The highlights of this huge, impressive museum are its dozens of Roman mosaics, which hint at the glorious past of old Antioch. Experts consider works in the collection here—one of the largest in the world, portraying scenes from mythology and replete with figures such as Dionysus, Orpheus, Oceanus, and Thetis—to rank among the highest achievements of Roman art.

Adana’s archaeology museum, in a restored former textile factory, has a nicely presented collection of local finds, including Roman mosaics, statues, and carved sarcophagi.

It's worth dropping by the small Alanya Archaeological Museum just to see the petite but perfectly preserved Roman bronze statue of a gleaming, muscular Hercules from the 2nd century AD. There is also a lovely seafaring mosaic, artifacts from the area's ancient maritime culture, some interesting stone altars, a bronze Pegasus statue, and limestone ossuaries. Note the Ottoman Greek inscriptions by the entry in Karamanlı—Turkish written with the Greek alphabet.

A small museum in the waterfront district of İskele displays finds from Anemurium and other nearby sites. The most interesting are the tomb mosaics and a bronze head of Athena. As of late 2021, the museum was closed for renovations.

Although small and somewhat neglected, Fethiye's museum has a fascinating collection of artifacts from nearby sites, including sculptures from Tlos and Kaunos (near Dalyan) and stone sarcophagi. You'll also see the Letoon trilingual stela (a stone slab with Greek, Lycian, and Aramaic inscriptions), a mosaic from the Temple of Apollo, and a series of altars and stelae dedicated to the gods in thanks. Other items include an intricately carved wooden door from the Lower Church at Kayaköy and a 19th-century Greek ship's figurehead.

Remnants of ancient Antioch uncovered accidentally during construction of the Museum Hotel Antakya have been preserved in situ underneath the hotel as a museum, with walkways above impressively large and detailed Roman mosaics, the remains of a Roman bath, and sections of the old stone streets. A small display area contains a handful of the 30,000 artifacts found here, and video depictions of the history of the site, the excavation, and the construction of the museum and hotel.

Across the street from the theater, the Side Museum is housed in a restored 2nd-century AD Roman bath that was expanded in the 5th or 6th century. The collection of Roman statuary and other artifacts is small but interesting, featuring a gorgeous group of marble torsos that includes the Three Graces; various cherubs; a brilliant satyr; a bust of Emperor Hadrian; a Roman sundial; and the usual smattering of inscriptions, amphorae, columns, and sarcophagi. The sculpture garden behind the museum is larger than the museum itself and overlooks the Mediterranean.

Local finds, some dating as far back as the Bronze Age, are displayed in the small Silifke Müzesi, just on the edge of the city center towards Anamur. The specimens of Roman jewelry are particularly lovely, and there is also a folkloric exhibit.

Fifty yards inside Hadrian's Gate, turn left to find this small museum, an oasis in a group of restored buildings with an unusual painted exterior that experts say reflects the way most Antalya houses looked in Ottoman times. The main display area has interesting pictures of old Antalya and a couple of rooms with costumed mannequins that re-create Ottoman wedding scenes and other traditions. The best part of the museum is the restored church in the garden, where there are rotating displays about different aspects of local history. The museum is part of a privately funded research institute and has an excellent library (accessible with special permission), plus a shop that sells a good range of guidebooks.

Opened at the end of 2020, Tarsus’s impressive archaeological museum makes a fine first stop for understanding the history of the city, which has been settled for 9,000 years, and putting together the jigsaw puzzle of relics scattered around town. A video reconstruction shows what the stone platform that remains of the Donuktaş Temple might have looked like with the temple building on top. Other videos tell the stories of figures both historical and mythological that are important to the region. The artifacts on display range from prehistoric pottery and tools from Gözlükule Höyüğü (Mound) to the 1st-century AD Roman mosaic in the entry atrium depicting a banquet scene and from small but well-preserved Hellenistic terracotta figures to traditional Yörük (nomad) textiles.