The Manisa Museum has been operating since 1937 in the Muradiye Madrasah, which was built by Sultan Murat III in 1585 and is the only work of Mimar Sinan in the region. In 1972, the Imarethane section of the complex was restored and incorporated into the museum. The Imarethane section of the museum is dedicated to archaeological artefacts and the madrasah to the ethnography of the region. Large pieces such as statues, sarcophagi and column capitals, inscriptions and stelae are also displayed in the museum's courtyard. In the archaeological section of the museum, artefacts are displayed from the region, including fossil footprints of Homo sapiens dating back 25,000 years, sarcophagi, tombstones, mosaics, sculptures, busts, glass and ivory objects from excavations carried out in the mounds and ancient cities of the Lydian region. One of the most notable artefacts in the sculpture room is the statue of Marsyas. The statue was discovered in an illicit excavation in 1987 and smuggled to the United States. It was returned to Turkey in 1995, but was subsequently stolen from the museum. However, it was recovered shortly afterwards and returned to the museum. Another rare collection of the museum is the artefacts discovered during the excavations conducted since 1958 at the archaeological site of Sardes, the capital of the Lydian Kingdom. The Ethnography section displays a variety of objects, including military, religious and civilian items, which reflect the traditions, customs and lifestyle of the local people during the Principality, Ottoman and Republican periods. Additionally, it features Turkish palace objects from the Ottoman period that were brought from the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul. The collection encompasses a range of artefacts, including clothes, weapons, tile samples, manuscripts and writing sets from the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as Qur'an and juz cases. The most striking item in this section is the minbar door of the Great Mosque, which is embellished with carvings and ivory inlays and crafted using the Kündekari technique.