The Muğla Museum was opened to visitors in 1994 in the former prison building situated behind the Muğla Courthouse. The building is of a two-storey rectangular plan with an open courtyard. The museum comprises halls dedicated to Natural History, Ethnography, Archaeology, Gladiators and Yatağan Rescue Excavations. The Natural History Hall displays fossils unearthed from excavations conducted in a fossil bed situated in the vicinity of Kaklıca Hill in Özlüce Village, Muğla. The fossil bed was discovered by shepherds in 1993. The Ethnography Hall, opened in 1995, exhibits items utilised in daily life in Muğla from the Republican Period to the present day. The Archaeology Hall, which houses artefacts unearthed in various settlements within the borders of Muğla, was opened in 1997. The artefacts found in the ancient city of Stratonikeia in Eskihisar Village of Yatağan and in the sanctuary of Lagina in Turgut Township of Yatağan constitute the hall's most significant artefacts. The Gladiators Hall, which opened in 2007, exhibits seven steles from the Gladiator Tombs, discovered in the ancient city of Stratonikeia. The artefacts displayed in the Yatağan Rescue Excavations Hall were unearthed as a result of extensive archaeological research conducted in the north-west of the basin within the borders of Yatağan district over the past 30 years.
MUĞLA MUSEUM
