Visit ancient cities in Turkey by night

As of this year, 2025, major archaeological sites remain accessible until late in the evening, often after sunset. The idea is for tourists to avoid excessive daytime temperatures. These late opening hours, which will also apply to several museums, will apply until 1 October 2025. 

I can’t help wondering how safe such nighttime visits will be. Museums should not be a problem, but ancient sites are another issue. I can imagine admiring the temples, theaters, and statuary lit by floodlights, although with some cautiousness, but walking over uneven pavement may be quite hazardous. 

An excellent example is, for instance, Mount Nemrud, which will open already at 4 a.m. and close at 9 p.m. Watching the sunrise or sunset from up there is a unique and unforgettable experience. But climbing the high-stepped stairs to the monument is a challenge by daytime, so much more so by dawn or dwindling light! 

Anyway, for the brave ones or daredevils, I am sharing the sites and museums that offer extended variable visiting hours. 

Closing times for archaeological sites and museums in 2025:

Istanbul
Galata Tower – 11 p.m.
Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum – 10 p.m.
Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum – 10 p.m.
Archaeology Museums (excluding closed sections) – 10 p.m.

Adiyaman
Nemrud – 4 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Ankara
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations – 9 p.m.
Ethnography Museum – 9 p.m.

Antalya
Antalya Museum – 10 p.m.
Alanya Museum – 10 p.m.
Aspendos – 10 p.m.
Patara – 10 p.m.
Side – 10 p.m.
Nekropol Museum – 10 p.m. 

Aydin

Didyma – 9 p.m.

Denizli
Hierapolis – 11 p.m.

Erzurum

Erzurum Museum – 9 p.m.

Gaziantep
Zeugma Mosaic Museum – 9 p.m.

Izmir
Ephesos – 11 p.m. (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday)
Museum Izmir Culture and Arts Factory – 9 p.m.

Mugla
Bodrum Museum of Underwater Archaeology – 10 p.m.

Nevsehir - Cappadocia
Zelve-Pasa Baglari – 9 p.m.
Derinkuyu Underground City – 9 p.m.
Kaymakli Underground City – 9 p.m.
Ozkonak Underground City – 9 p.m.

Samsun
Samsun Museum – 10 p.m.

Sanliurfa
SanliUrfa Museum – 9 p.m.
Haleplibahce Mosaic Museum – 9 p.m.

A still sealed Etruscan tomb

A sealed and thus unlooted tomb always calls for a celebration. This time, our attention goes to an Etruscan tomb from the 7^th century BC. Although well before Alexander’s days, we should keep in mind that time passed more slowly then. Life in the 7^th century BC was not so different from what it was 300 years later. 

The discovery was made in San Giuliano, some 70 kilometers northwest of Rome. 

[Picture from Popular Mechanics. Hans-Georg Roth//Getty Images]

Archaeological excavations have exposed about 600 tombs since 2016, but all had been looted at one time or another. Moreover, no other tomb of this age has ever been excavated using modern techniques. 

Inside this sealed tomb, archaeologists uncovered four skeletons, possibly two couples, resting on carved stone beds. They were surrounded by at least 100 grave goods, varying from ceramic vases and iron weapons to bronze and silver ornaments. Further study and analysis will eventually provide more detailed information. 

Most of Etruscan history remains shrouded in mystery. The Etruscans built their fortune from their extensive trade with the Celts in the north and Magna Graecia in the south. Their richly decorated and furnished tombs are proof of their success. They left us practically no literature, and we have to rely on second-hand reports and comments by Greek and Latin authors. 

Under what circumstances the Etruscans were incorporated into the Roman Empire towards the end of the 4^th century BC is still unclear. The present settlement somehow survived the Roman occupation and medieval knighthood, to be finally abandoned towards 1300 AD.

Another Macedonian tomb

The large number of tombs that dot ancient Macedonia never ceases to amaze me. They do not immediately stand out, but driving around on local roads in the wider area of Pella and Vergina (ancient Aegae), they appear as solitary structures or ruins. Occasionally, their names are announced on promising road signs pointing you to mysterious sites. 

Most visitors flock to the Great Tumulus housing the Tomb of Philip II in Vergina, along with the Tomb of Persephone (based on her frescoed depiction on the wall), and the Tomb of the Prince, attributed to Alexander IV. 

[Picture of the Abduction of Persephone from The Maritime Explorer]

The large necropolis to the east of the city and the many tombs outside the ancient city walls are generally ignored. In this area, it is nearly impossible to miss other beautiful examples like the Rhomaios Tomb, the Tomb of Eurydice (Alexander’s grandmother), the Macedonian Tomb on the Bloukas Farm, or a series of tombs on the Bella Farm (see: There is more to Aegae than the Royal Palace and the Great Tumulus). These tombs are rarely open to the public.  

Excavations are still ongoing, and more than one thousand tombs have been uncovered at Pella alone since 2000. They often carry the names of Macedonian families, and many monuments still display their vivid original colors. 

Closer to Náousa  (some 50 kilometers east of Pella), the Tomb of the Judgment, the Tomb of the Palmettos, the Tomb of Lyson and Kallikles, and the neglected Tomb of Kinch are worth visiting if the opportunity arises (see: Alexander's schooling at Mieza. Visit of the surrounding area). These tombs are not always open to the public.

Earlier this year (2025), the Tomb of the Philosophers, situated in the eastern necropolis of Pella, made headlines. The burial chamber measures 4.40x1.95 meters and is three meters high. It dates from around 300 BC and shows frescoes of six unnamed philosophers that document the richness of Pella’s intellectual development and cultural life at the time, when philosophy and sciences were a common good. 

The frescoed figures, who gave their name to the burial site, call for our attention. The most intriguing picture is that of a man wearing a red himation (kind of mantle), holding a wooden rod, pointing at a celestial globe, indicating that he might be a philosopher interested in astronomy. The theme is likely influenced by Aristotle’s teachings and other works written by philosophers and poets living at the Macedonian Court of Antigonus II Gonatas in the 3rd century BC. 

On the wall to his right, a bearded man is studying a papyrus scroll. The left wall depicts another wreathed, bearded ‘philosopher’. Above them are scenes of horsemen and grave steles inspired by Homeric funeral games. 

Excavations have revealed that the grave was probably built for a family. It contained the remains of three individuals: a man in his forties, a woman in her thirties, and an infant. The presence of this elaborate decoration with symbolic elements indicates that the family belonged to the higher social elite of Pella. The man could well have been a scholar or an astronomer who cared for his family after their death. 

The tomb’s frescoes are of high quality, giving a telling insight into the personal identity and the cultural values of the deceased. What’s more, the elements testify to the vibrant intellectual and artistic level that was reached in Pella some one hundred years after the death of Alexander. 

[Pictures of the Philosopher's Tomb from the Teacher Curator]

What Alexander really looked like.

Over the centuries, endless theories have circulated about the real appearance of Alexander. Statues, busts, paintings, and sketches have depicted Alexander as imagined by their creators, just as ancient and modern authors have described their version of Alexander. 

It is inevitable since Alexander became a legend during his lifetime. The legend took a life of its own, and still does today. 

[Picture Sarah Murray]

I have just read an article on the Greek Reporter, “Beyond the Busts: Unveiling Alexander the Great’s True Face” by Paula Tsoni.  A very promising title that misleads the reader in many ways. The most absurd theory is the one quoted towards the end, reading: 

"A fresco depicting a hunt scene at the tomb of Philip II, Alexander’s father, at the archaeological site of Aegae is the only known surviving depiction of Alexander produced during his lifetime in the 330s BC."      …

"A most disruptive theory is proposed by Greek-French academic Byzantinologist Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler, who has herself been identified by the 2008 show Great Greeks as one of the 100 greatest Greeks of all time. In her 2018 book published by Gutenberg, the famous scholar suggests that the tomb in Aegae is, in fact, Alexander’s, and not his father’s. This would explain why the young king was depicted in the famous fresco inside that tomb."

First of all, it has been clearly demonstrated that the tomb in Vergina, ancient Aegae, belongs to Philip II and not to Alexander, who was entombed in ancient Alexandria. The latest confirmation of Philip’s presence in the Vergina tomb has been established by studying the adjacent tomb that turned out to be Cynane’s, Philip’s daughter (see: Cynane buried next to her father, Philip II). 

Secondly, stating that the hunting scene in Philip’s tomb (which is unclear) is “the only known surviving depiction of Alexander” is not correct. It has been established that the ivory heads recovered from a Macedonian funerary couch in Vergina belong to Philip and Alexander. Greek archaeologists agree that the Alexander head is the only one made during Alexander’s lifetime. 

There have been repeated tentative efforts to recreate the Macedonian King’s face, even showing occasional look-alikes. A lot of wishful thinking, no doubt, but not very realistic. 

The question about Alexander’s real face already arose in 2016, when I wrote about a hoard found at Mir Zakah in north-eastern Afghanistan (see: Alexander’s real face). The hoard had been hidden in a well for over two thousand years and contained an estimated 550,000 coins. One of them showed Alexander with wide-open eyes, a crooked nose, and wild curls on the obverse and a tiptoeing elephant on the reverse. This is Alexander as he saw himself - invulnerable, verging on godhood, immortalized in the moment of his triumph after his battle against Porus on the Hydaspes in India in 326 BC. 

Osmund Bopearachchi was the first to recognize the medallion, and together with Frank Holt, he wrote a book on the subject, “The Alexander Medallion, Exploring the Origins of a Unique Artefact.” This information is ignored by or unknown to the eminent Greek-French academic Byzantinologist Helene Glykatzi-Ahrweiler, used by the Greek Reporter!

[Picture of the coin is from The Hindu]