Antalya (Antalya Museum and Beldibi cave beach area) Day 10 and 11. Turkey

Statue of Aphrodite

After returning from Manavgat Waterfalls, we went to visit Antalya Museum. For those of you who love history, you shouldn't miss the splendid museums in Turkey. If you go to Istanbul, you HAVE to see the museum there. If you are in Antalya, then Antalya museum and in Ankara, the Museum of Anatolian Civilization.

About the statue of Aphrodite : From the 2nd Century A.D. Excavated in Perge in 1956 and made out of fine grain white marble. Depicts Aphrodite as a young woman. This is a roman period copy of the statue made by sculpture Praxiteles in 4th century B.C.


Statue of the Hunting Artemis

Dated 2nd century A.D. and was found during excavation work in Perge in 1970. Carved from white marble, it depicts Artemis as a dynamic, moving, athletic girl. This is a roman period copy of the Versailles Artemis and was copied from a Hellenistic period original.


Statue of Zeus

Found during excavation in Perge in 1970 and dated 2nd century A.D. Also made of white marble. This statue is a roman period copy of a classical period original.


Statue of Hygeia

2nd century A.D. Discovered during excavations in Perge in 1981. Made out of white marble. The snake which is her symbol is wound around the horn of plenty that she holds in her left hand and feeds from it. Hygeia is the goddess of health. She carries the symbols of the underworld (the snake) and the word hygiene comes from her.


The sarcophagus of garlands

This sarcophagus was illegally dug and shipped out of Turkey and subsequently, was exhibited in Brooklyn Museum. It was brought back to Turkey in 1995. This sarcophagus is decorated with garlands of leaves, flowers and fruits. Considered to be an orginal invention of the Perge sculptors. In between the garlands were masks and Medusa heads, carved to protect the tomb from evil.


The sarcophagus of Domitia Julianus and Domitia Philiska

2nd century A.D. Close up shot of the carved figures on the sarcophagus. Belongs to the group "Columned tombs of Asia Minor". The desciption in Ancient Greek described the tomb as belonging to Domitias Julianus and his wife.


Sunny summer afternoon

The next day we headed back towards Beldibi Cave to spend the whole day at the beach nearby. It was a lovely place as it was secluded and people-free, though you do get a couple of tourists walking along the beach from the hotels nearby. There is another, more famous beach in Antalya, Konyaalti beach, which is jam-packed with tourists. We skipped that. However, that beach had all the amenities like showers, sun deck chairs, restaurants etc. This beach is isolated, so it is just you and nature.


Lunch!

Our simple but delicious lunch of bread stuffed with white cheese and eaten together, yes folks, together, with melons (honey dew and watermelon). This is my first time trying to eat white cheese together with melons! But the taste was unbelievable. The juicy sweet melons go very well with the white cheese. Try it!


The colourful pebbles

This is a pebbled beach area rather than a sandy beach. So, it is a bit painful on the soles but once you get used to it and when you wade deeper off shore, it becomes less pebbled and more sandy. I love the pebbles because they are so colourful! Collected some to take home. I love the green ones.


Dinner

After a whole day of just swimming, relaxing and dozing, we headed back to our hotel to freshen up for dinner. We went to another kebab restaurant and this time we had something like Turkish casserole, this, I believe was beef. It was good and goes well with the bread.