Muğla Museum sheds light on ancient civilizations

MUĞLA

Turkey’s western province of Muğla, famous for its holiday towns, is also home to its outstanding museum displaying traces of civilizations that once existed in the region during ancient times.

Besides valuable coin collections, sculptures, earthenware and glass vessels, many other materials are on display at the Muğla Museum depicting the daily life of ancient civilizations.

Speaking to the state-run Anadolu Agency, Muğla Museum Director Gülnaz Savran said that the museum was located in an area surrounded by registered and protected buildings within the texture of the old city.

Emphasizing that it is one of the rare areas that have survived to this day as the historical urban texture never damaged, Savran said that many archaeological excavations continue in the area under the responsibility of the Muğla Museum.

Stating that the artifacts from these excavations are exhibited in the museum, Savran said, “In the museum, there is a hall where artifacts shed light on Anatolian chronology. There is a display featuring all periods chronologically from the Chalcolithic period to the Ottoman era. The Geometric period is of great importance in our collection. This richness paves the way for scientists working in this field both in our country and around the world.”

“In addition to million-year-old fossils, it is possible to see many gods and goddesses depicted in ancient times, soldiers, gladiators, children’s toys, puppet pieces, terracotta masks, animal figures and many other objects in the museum,” she added.

Gladiator Hall

Savran noted that the tomb steles of seven gladiators, including Achilles, who was the subject of the world-famous movie “Troy,” found by chance 20 years ago in the Yatağan district are among the areas where visitors show the most interest.

Savran said that while visiting the Gladiator Hall, visitors can see the characteristics of the era 2,000 years ago on the walls of the hall, and they can see photographs showing the battles that took place in that period, as well as the lives of gladiators, their fights and the exciting scenes they lived in the atmosphere of that era.

She said that it was also possible to see how gladiators were trained and their personal items.

She stated that the Trolian Park was opened in 1994 within the Muğla Museum to exhibit the fossils removed from the fossil beds on the Kaklıca hill near Özlüce neighborhood in the central Menteşe district of Muğla.

“The fossils unearthed during the excavations are put on display in this special hall after going through some procedures. There are fossils here dating back 5 to 9 million years ago. It is no more possible to see the creatures of these fossils found here. This is a hall that shows how rich our museum is. The Trolian Park attracts great attention of local and foreign tourists,” Savran said.