Museum

The Museum of Miletus lies in the southern part of the city and – located directly on the access road – welcomes all interested visitors before they reach the actual archaeological park. As it was in danger of collapsing due to several earthquakes, the original museum building, which opened in 1973, had to be closed in the meantime. After extensive renovation work, a new museum building was finally opened in May 2011 and has been open to visitors ever since. Numerous exhibits from Miletus itself, but also from the neighbouring city of Priene and from the extra-urban sanctuary of Apollo in Didyma, are presented here on an area of around 600 m2. The spectrum of ancient finds is extremely broad and ranges from ceramic vessels, coins, jewellery and tools to figurines and even large-format statues. Accompanying these exhibits, the information texts in the museum provide an initial overview of the city's history, which can then be explored in greater depth by an outside tour of the remains of ancient Miletus. South of the museum lies a garden area where further sculptures, as well as reliefs, inscriptions and architectural elements can be viewed.

Closely connected to the museum are several depots and storage rooms where all the artefacts that are not currently on display are stored. The museum and the depots are also of great importance for current archaeological research in Miletus. For more information about the museum and the archaeological park, please visit the museum’s website.

Text: Nadia Cahenzli

^References

• https://aydin.ktb.gov.tr/TR-64433/milet-muzesi.html (07.06.2024).
• https://muze.gov.tr/muze-detay?DistId=MLT&SectionId=MLT02 (07.06.2024).
• https://www.turkishmuseums.com/museum/detail/1980-aydin-milet-muzesi/1980/1 (07.06.2024).