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Muğla Museum

Muğla Museum

A museum in Muğla's former prison building, best known for its fossil hall from the Kaklıca hill dig, with ethnography, archaeology and gladiator-stele rooms.

About the museum

The Muğla Museum stands behind the courthouse in the town's former prison, a two-storey rectangular building around an open courtyard. It opened to visitors in 1994, after fossils from a dig at Kaklıca hill in Özlüce village were put on display. The fossil bed was found by shepherds in 1993.

The Natural History Hall shows animals and plants that lived some five to nine million years ago, in the period called the Turolian. Their remains include giraffids, bovids, rhinoceroses, elephant relatives, pigs, horses and carnivores, along with many plant fossils, all from a landscape stretching from East Asia to Spain. The Ethnography Hall, opened in 1995, shows everyday items from Muğla from the Republican period to the present day.

The Archaeology Hall, which opened in 1997, gathers finds from settlements across Muğla, above all from Stratonikeia and the sanctuary of Lagina in Yatağan. The Gladiators Hall, from 2007, exhibits seven steles from the gladiator tombs of Stratonikeia. The Yatağan Rescue Excavations Hall shows objects from three decades of digs in the basin north-west of Yatağan.

Tips

  • The official listing shows the museum as temporarily closed; check the current status before you go.
  • If you like the finds from Stratonikeia and Lagina, the two sites themselves are near Yatağan and can be visited on a separate trip.

Questions

When is Muğla Museum open?

According to the Ministry’s listing it opens at 08:30 and closes at 17:30 (last entry 17:00). Closed: Monday.

Can I buy tickets for Muğla Museum on this site?

No. This site sells no tickets. Topkapı Palace, the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia and Dolmabahçe Palace are sold on our sister sites; for Muğla Museum, buy at the ticket office or on the Ministry’s official e-ticket system.

Where is Muğla Museum?

Muğla Museum is in Muğla, Türkiye — Müştak Bey Cad. Eski Cezaevi Binası.

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