Hadrian's granary
A Roman building of about 129 AD with seven stone chambers; the collection sits inside it, not in a modern hall.
Yamen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yamen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yamen — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yamen — CC BY-SA 4.0
The finest object in this museum is the building itself: a granary the emperor Hadrian ordered built around 129 AD at the harbour of ancient Myra, fifty-six metres long and seven stone chambers deep, where Lycia's grain was stacked before it sailed for Rome. This is most likely the harbour where St Paul changed ships on his way to Rome as a prisoner, and it is where the Lycian customs law of Nero's reign, one of the very few Roman customs laws to survive anywhere, came out of the ground. The granary was restored, roofed in tile and opened as a museum in 2016, then shut in February 2025 for a complete re-display; it reopened in June 2026 with new galleries. Inside are eight halls named after Lycian cities: Myra, Patara, Xanthos, Tlos, Pınara, Olympos, Arykanda and Antiphellos, which is Kaş itself under its ancient name. Well over a thousand finds from excavations across Lycia, Andriake's own running since 2009, fill them: coins, inscriptions, figurines, the tools of daily life and worship, with interpretive panels and interactive displays in Turkish and English. For many visitors the open-air section is the better half: the ruins of baths, churches and the agora, a late Roman synagogue discovered in 2009, and a sixteen-metre reconstruction of a Roman merchant ship standing on the riverbank where the harbour once was. Getting here from Kaş is easy: about fifty kilometres east along the coastal D400, roughly an hour by car, or a dolmuş to Demre followed by a five-kilometre taxi ride south to Çayağzı. The museum is small and an unhurried hour covers it, which is why it does not justify a day trip on its own. Pair it with the rock tombs of Myra and the Church of St Nicholas in Demre, or make it your first stop before a Kekova boat trip, which departs from the jetty next door. In August heat the open-air section has no shade, so do it first thing in the morning and save the cool interior of the granary for last. The museum floor is level and fine for pushchairs; the paths through the ruins are gravel and uneven. Children tend to prefer the ship to the vitrines, and Çayağzı beach a few steps away makes the visit easier on families.
A Roman building of about 129 AD with seven stone chambers; the collection sits inside it, not in a modern hall.
A 16-metre reconstruction of a Roman vessel on the bank of the old harbour, and the children's favourite.
Ruins of baths, churches and a late Roman synagogue in the port where St Paul most likely changed ships.
Büyükkum Mahallesi, Andriake (Çayağzı), Demre, Antalya
Yes if you have a spare hour: it is ten minutes by car from Demre centre and the ticket is only 4 EUR. If time is tight, give Myra's rock tombs priority; the museum is small, its cases do not compete with Myra's cliffs, and its real merit is the building and the ruins around it rather than the vitrines.
That is the best way to do it: the Kekova boats leaving from Demre tie up at the Çayağzı jetty right beside the museum, so arrive an hour before sailing or visit after you return. Note that most Kekova trips sold in Kaş itself leave from Kaş harbour and reach the sunken city from the west without passing Andriake.
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