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Published: November 21st 2013
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Having discarded our paint brushes and given into Woolly’s nagging we made good our promise to take him to Alanya Museum to see what had been excavated from Syedra and other ancient cities from around the area. Woolly says – About time to, I’ve had to wait over a week! I was up and ready for action by 7.30am, the lazy bones were eventually ready by 11am (I’m recommending early nights for the pair of them!) The twenty minute walk to Cleopatra Beach in the sunshine was most agreeable and we took a few minutes rest on one of the funky ship benches to watch the many people using the outside gym.
These gyms run all along the sea front and are constantly in use, keep fit in the sun, not a bad idea. Woolly says – Hmmmm…….I don’t think so, it’s far more pleasant watching other’s getting hot and sticky. I was also fascinated to watch a bride and groom being photographed by a small herd of photographers snapping their every move. With everyone working long hours throughout the summer season many marriages take place
at this time of year. It’s easy to tell when a wedding is afoot, just listen out for the honking horns of the multitudes of vehicles as they escort the happy couple from the Civil Ceremony to the reception venue. Entering the gates of the small but perfectly formed Museum we handed over our 3 TL (approximately £0.96p GBP) each, I started my search for the antiquities of the many Roman and Hittite cities I have visited.
The Alanya Museum was opened to visitors in 1967. When the museum was first opened there were little or no finds from the region so many items were borrowed from Ankara, today however there is plenty to see stretching from the early Bronze Age through the Romans and into the Ottoman eras. Woolly says – just entering through the door I was able to see Roman statues found in Perge, this was going to be good. The display cases take a tour through Turkish history and have just the right amount of information to read (too much and I do tend to fall asleep as Jo
reads them out to me). My next find was a marble armchair from the Roman’s, it didn’t look very comfy and would need several large cushions to make me want to sit on it. With more marble and alabaster items on show I was amazed at how well preserved everything was. Next was a large tablet of inscribed stone sent as a letter from the people of SYEDRA in the 2nd Century and addressed to Septimus Severus to thank him for defending the city, what a find although I’m not sure how they would have got it in the post box!
With Woolly sighing in delight we made our way into a section dedicated to the sea and the history of shipping in the area. We found several Woolly sized boats to further enhance his visit although he seemed far more interested in the ships wheel that you could move and find out about the different sailing vessels that have docked at Alanya harbour over the centuries. Woolly says – eye eye, Captain Woolly reporting for duty. Then I spotted a cannon from the Ottoman period, the balls looked very
heavy (I hope they gave the sailors steel toe capped boots!) On we went passing headless Romans, small sarcophagi and into a room where we could walk on a glass floor over a wonderful mosaic floor depicting the story of Hercules and his labours. He must have been exhausted after his twelve feats, killing lions, boars, bulls and all of other challenges, I bet he needed a beer when he eventually finished. At the far end of the room was a bronze statue of Hercules, standing at fifty-two centimetres in height and dated from the 2nd century I wondered why he had no clothes on, maybe the sculpture wasn’t any good at carving cloaks.
Having looked at the items of jewellery, oil lamps and pieces of tiles from Alanya Castle and a tribute to St George the patron Saint of England….. Woolly says – but he never went to England!
……. Maybe not Woolly but he was still adopted as the Patron Saint and remains so to this day. We headed into the outside part of the museum. With intricately carved Roman ossuary’s (carved stone boxes for the preservation of the ashes and bones of the deceased) and many Roman columns.
Woolly says – It got even better when I found a column dedicated to my Roman idol, Hadrian, telling everyone what a great bloke he was. I was most interested to find some grave stones, Jo explained that the dated back to the Selijuk periods and that each person would have a head and a foot stone. The head stone for men would have a hat carved onto it to show what profession they had followed in life while the women’s stones were decorated with beautifully carved flowers, what a lovely idea. Feeling a little weary I found a seat to rest my paws only to find myself the subject of great interest to a passing peacock, he didn’t ask for an autograph so maybe he didn’t realise quite how famous I am!
A lovely couple of hours had passed and some excellent finds made, and having rescued Woolly from his feathered admirer we took a slow amble home for tea.
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