Fethiye Museum

Small but excellent museum with the Trilingual Stele that helped decode the Lycian language

The Fethiye Museum is a compact, well-arranged museum in the town centre with an archaeological section and an ethnographic section. The star exhibit is the Trilingual Stele from the nearby sanctuary of Letoon — a 4th century BC inscription in Lycian, Greek, and Aramaic that was instrumental in deciphering the Lycian language.

Beyond the stele, the collection includes Lycian pottery, Roman-period statues, Byzantine jewellery, and artefacts from the surrounding ancient cities. The ethnographic section covers Ottoman-era life in the region. It is small enough to see in an hour and provides useful context before visiting the Lycian sites around Fethiye. Closed Mondays.

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A story
The museum's most important piece is the Trilingual Stele from Letoon, inscribed in Lycian, Greek, and Aramaic. This text was to the Lycian language what the Rosetta Stone was to Egyptian hieroglyphics — the key that allowed scholars to begin decoding it.

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