Izmir Archaeological Museum

İzmir Archaeology Museum

The İzmir Archaeology Museum is a museum where archaeological artifacts discovered in İzmir Province and its surrounding regions are exhibited.

The museum was opened to visitors in 1927 in the Aya Vukla (Gözlü) Church and has been operating since 1984 in its modern building located within Bahribaba Park in the Konak district.

Artifacts unearthed during excavations in various parts of the Aegean Region—such as Bayraklı (ancient Smyrna), Ephesus, Pergamon, Miletus, Klazomenai, Teos, and Iasos—which shed light on the history of Western Anatolia, are displayed both inside the museum and in its garden.

The three-story museum building houses exhibition halls on the second and third floors, administrative offices on the first floor, and on the ground floor artifact storage rooms where all objects are preserved in separate categories, a restoration laboratory, and a library.

The museum was first established in 1924 in the abandoned Aya Vukla Church in the Basmane district under the name “Asar-ı Antika Museum”. Following three years of collecting and cataloging artifacts, it was opened to the public in 1927. After Aziz Ogan left İzmir for another appointment, the directorship of the museum was taken over by Selâhattin Kantar. The museum was visited in 1931 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the President of the Republic at the time. In 1943, during Selâhattin Kantar’s directorship, it was officially renamed the İzmir Archaeology Museum.

In 1951, the museum was relocated to the “National Education Pavilion” in Kültürpark, which had been converted into a museum. As the number of artifacts brought from ancient cities in and around İzmir increased, a new building became necessary. Consequently, the current museum building in Bahribaba Park, Konak, was opened to the public in 1984.

Museum Sections

Lower Floor

A section of this floor displays sarcophagi and funerary stelae made of terracotta and marble from various periods. Among these are the renowned Klazomenai terracotta sarcophagi, famous throughout the ancient world. The Late Hellenistic funerary stelae exhibited in this hall constitute one of the richest collections of their kind worldwide. Also on display are the coffered ceiling reliefs of the Belevi Mausoleum, one of the most significant monuments of the Hellenistic period. At the end of the hall, statues of Poseidon, Demeter, and Artemis discovered at the Agora archaeological site stand out as striking examples of ancient sculpture.

Middle Floor

This floor, which serves as the main entrance level, displays marble statues, busts, and sculptural portrait heads. As on the upper floor, the exhibits are arranged in chronological order. Eight display cases present smaller marble artifacts grouped by type. The Kore Statue found in Erythrai, located at the entrance of the hall, is among the earliest examples of large-scale marble sculpture from antiquity. The Bronze Athlete Statue discovered in Kyme holds a particularly important place among bronze sculpture examples.

Upper Floor

The artifacts exhibited in the first gallery of this floor were found in various locations across Western Anatolia. Small-scale objects made of glass, bronze, engraved gemstones, and terracotta—such as figurines, pottery, and oil lamps—are displayed in grouped showcases. These objects are arranged in chronological order, spanning from prehistoric periods to the end of the Byzantine era.