Tourists visit Topkapı Palace most in 2011

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

Topkapı Palace was the most visited place in Istanbul last year.

The top three sites tourists visited in Turkey in 2011 were Topkapı Palace, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the ruins of Ephesus in İzmir.

According to the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, 3.7 million tourists visited Topkapı Palace while 3.1 million visited the Hagia Sophia last year. Nearly 2 million tourists visited Ephesus in 2011.

The revenue from the palace was 56,664,477 Turkish Liras. Hagia Sophia brought in 48,577,440 liras of revenue, while Ephesus brought in 31,431,525 liras.

The Konya Mevlana Museum in the Central Anatolian province of Konya had 1,735,424 visitors, while Hierapolis in the Aegean province of Denizli was visited by 1,626,143 people.

In total, Turkey earned approximately 253.8 million liras from museums in 2011. In comparison, the revenue from museums and ancient sites was 25,854,341 liras in 2010 and 21,233,722 liras in 2009.

Among the other museums that drew the most number of visitors are Göreme Open Air Museum in the central province of Nevşehir, Noel baba Museum, Myra site and Aspendos in the southern province of Antalya, Troia site in the northwestern province of Çanakkale, Kariye Museum in Istanbul, St. Jean Temple in İzmir and Underwater Archaeology Museum in the Aegean Bodrum.