Statue of Heracles repatriated from the US, draws thousands of visitors

ISTANBUL

The statue was returned to Turkey from the Boston Museum in 2011. AA photo

Over 300,000 people have visited “Weary Heracles,” the top half of a 1,800-year-old Roman sculpture of the mythological hero Heracles that was repatriated to Turkey after 30 years abroad, since it went back on display in 2011, museum officials have said.

The sculpture, which was visited by 1,609 people in its first month at the museum in October 2011, was seen by 1,685 in November 2011 and 1,484 in December 2011. The total number of visitors was 173,843 in 2012 and 136,587 last year, according to information provided by the museum directorate in Antalya, which is home to the sculpture.

The top half of the Heracles statue had been on display at the Boston Museum in the United States. The top piece was stolen from an archaeological site in Turkey in 1980 and then smuggled to the U.S. 

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flew the 1,800-year-old item back with him at the end of a trip to the U.S. in September 2011.