Adana Archaeology Museum

Adana Archaeology Museum was established in 1924 shortly after the proclamation of the Republic and is one of Türkiye’s oldest ten museums. The museum’s foundations were laid with the collection of nearby column capitals and sarcophagi displayed in the Adana Police Department building. Its development began after Halil Kamil Bey was appointed as its first director. In 1928 it was opened to the public in the madrasa section of the Cafer Paşa Camii, located at the head of Taşköprü and now demolished.

Adana Museum (Culture Portal)

Foundation and History

The Adana Museum was established in 1924 following the proclamation of the Republic of Türkiye, making it one of the country’s oldest museums. During its founding, historical artifacts including column capitals and sarcophagi from the surrounding region were gathered to form the museum’s first collection. Halil Kamil Bey was appointed as its first director. Thanks to his efforts, the museum was opened to the public in 1928 in the madrasa of the Cafer Paşa Camii.

In 1950 the museum was relocated to a stone building in Kuruköprü, where it operated for many years. This building later continued to serve as the Kuruköprü Monumental Museum and Ethnography Museum. From the 1950s onward, excavations in the region rapidly expanded the museum’s collection. Archaeological materials from sites such as Tarsus Gözlükule (1934), Mersin Yumuktepe (1936), Yüreğir Misis (1958), Ceyhan Sirkeli, and Tatarlı Höyük rendered the existing building inadequate. Consequently, the Adana Archaeology Museum moved to its new building on 5 January 1972 and began operations there.

Interior Space (Turkish Museums)

New Museum Complex and Relocation Process

Due to the growing collection and insufficient exhibition space, a larger museum complex was needed in Adana. In this context, the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism included the construction of a new museum complex in its investment program in 2013. The former Millî Mensucat Fabrikası in Döşeme Mahallesi, Seyhan district of Adana, was restored and converted into a museum complex. The first phase of the project, the Archaeology Museum, opened to the public on 18 May 2017.

Museum Entrance (Turkish Museums)

Interior Space (Turkish Museums)

Historic Millî Mensucat Fabrikası

The building now serving as the new museum was originally the Millî Mensucat Fabrikası, established in 1907. It was founded in 1906 by Aristidi Kozma and purchased in 1927 by local entrepreneurs who renamed it Millî Mensucat. This structure played a significant role in Türkiye’s industrialization process and is notable for its social facilities, attention to workers’ health, and inspiration to literary works of the era. Orhan Kemal’s novel “Bekçi Murtaza” was inspired by this factory.

Key Artifacts

Some of the prominent archaeological artifacts on display in the museum include:

Statue of Tarhunda (Storm God) (Turkish Museums)

Achilles Sarcophagus (Turkish Museums)

Anthropoid Sarcophagus (Turkish Museums)

Exhibition Halls and Collections

The new museum building contains eight exhibition halls displaying archaeological artifacts from civilizations that inhabited the Çukurova region from the Prehistoric period through the Ottoman era. The periods represented include Chalcolithic, Early Bronze, Hittite, Assyrian, Phoenician, Phrygian, Archaic, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman.

The collection includes stone statues, sarcophagi, stelae, altars, glass, bronze, and terracotta objects, lamps, ornaments, seals, and coins. The museum’s collection comprises 17,071 archaeological artifacts and 26,547 coins. In the museum garden, stone artifacts such as statues of Augustus, gateway lions, architectural fragments, and ballista balls are displayed outdoors.

Visit Information

Address: Döşeme Mahallesi, Milli Mensucat Fabrikası, Seyhan / Adana

Phone: (322) 454 38 35

Opening Hours: Daily 08:30 – 17:30 (closed on Mondays)

Admission: Museum Card valid