Burdur, Archaeological Museum

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The Burdur Archaeological Museum is just fine. You will find all sculpture from Sagalassus over there, plus some objects from minor sites. Among the latter is a nice frieze that was probably part of the tomb of a man who trained gladiators, originally in Cibyra. There are also statues from Cremna, and upstairs, there’s a collection of prehistoric finds and ancient coins.

But the main reason to visit the Archaeological Museum of Burdur is the sculpture from Sagalassus. To see the heroon on the Upper Agora is one thing, to see the actual sculpture is much better. Imagine a square tomb decorated with garlands – except that the garlands have been replaced by the arms of dancing women. It is a beautiful work of art that will soon grace textbooks of art history. There are colossal heads of Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius, statues of deities, including two almost identical Dionysi.

The Hercules in the garden is one of the best I have ever seen. One reason is that sandstone is better than marble, because it stresses our macho’s masculine nature; but that’s just one aspect. In the end, I cannot explain why I like it so much.

This museum was visited in 2010.

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This page was last modified on 7 August 2020.