Antalya

Antalya (formerly known as Adalia; from Pamphylian Greek: Attália) is a large town and tourist destination, situated on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. It is the capital city of Antalya Province. The population of the city is 603,190 (2000 census) but reaches up to two million in summers at the height of tourism season.

Situated on a steep cliff over the Mediterranean, Antalya is a picturesque city surrounded by mountains. Developments in tourism, starting in the 1970s, have transformed the city into an international resort. With its airport and central location, Antalya is "the capital of Turkish tourism", a gateway for the Turkish riviera and many historical sites. Furthermore, with its palm-lined boulevards, its prize-winning marina, the unspoilt historical neighbourhood of Kaleiçi, and the modern developments along the coast, the city of Antalya is a major attraction in its own right. Antalya and its surroundings are a very important part of Turkish tourism.

Antalya city corresponds to the lands of ancient Pamphylia to the east and Lycia to the west. Antalya has plenty of accommodation, a very hot climate and many places to visit both in and around the city, including traces of Lycian,Pamphylian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman architecture and cultures.

Atatürk claimed without doubt Antalya is the most beautiful place in the world.

Attalos II

In the 1st century BC, the Pergamum king Attalos II ordered his men to find "heaven on earth". After a long search all over the world, they discovered this land and said "This must be 'Heaven' " and King Attalos founded the city giving it the name "Attaleia" which later became Adalia and then Antalya.

In 150 BC Attalos II, king of Pergamom, founded the city of Attalia (present day Antalya) to base his powerful naval fleet, and the city grew and prospered in the Ancient Roman and Byzantine periods. Christianity started to spread in the region after 2nd century. Antalya was visited by Paul of Tarsus, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 14:25-26), (wherein Antalya is referred to as Attalia). St. Paul and St. Barnabas went to Antalya and sailed from there to Antioch after preaching in Pisidia and Pamphylia. The city later became a naval base for the Christian Crusades against the Muslims in the Levant and in Cyprus. The city, along with the whole region, was conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the early 13th century.

History

The Arabic traveler Ibn Battuta who came to the city in between 1335-1340 noted:

“From Alaya I went to Antaliya [Adalia], a most beautiful city. It covers an immense area, and though of vast bulk is one of the most attractive towns to be seen anywhere, besides being exceedingly populous and well laid out. Each section of the inhabitants lives in a separate quarter. The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the town known as the Mina [the Port], and are surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut upon them from without at night and during the Friday service. The Greeks, who were its former inhabitants, live by themselves in another quarter, the Jews in another, and the king and his court and Mamluks in another, each of these quarters being walled off likewise. The rest of the Muslims live in the main city. Round the whole town and all the quarters mentioned there is another great wall. The town contains orchards and produces fine fruits, including an admirable kind of apricot, called by them Qamar ad-Din, which has a sweet almond in its kernel. This fruit is dried and exported to Egypt, where it is regarded as a great luxury.”

By the second half of the 17th century Evliya Çelebi recorded a city of narrow streets containing 3,000 houses in twenty Turkish neighbourhoods and four Greek. The town had grown beyond the city walls and the port could hold up to 200 boats. In the 18th century, in common with most of Anatolia, its actual lord was a Dere Bey. The family of Tekke Oglu, domiciled near Perge, though reduced to submission in 1812 by Mahmud II, continued to be a rival power to the Ottoman governor till within the present generation, surviving by many years the fall of the other great Beys of Anatolia. The records of the Levant (Turkey) Company, which maintained an agency here till 1825, contain information as to the local Dere Beys.

In the 19th century the population of Antalya increased as Turks from the Caucasus and the Balkans moved into Anatolia. By 1911 it was a city of about 25,000 people, including many Christians and Jews, still living in separate quarters, round the walled mina or port. The port was served by coasting steamers of the local companies only. Antalya (then Adalia) was an extremely picturesque, but ill-built and backward place. The chief thing to see was the city wall, outside which runs a good and clean promenade and which survives to this day. The government offices and the houses of the better class were all outside the walls.

The city was briefly occupied by the Italians from the end of the First World War until the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

Antalya City

The city as a whole has grown huge now and there are many very attractive areas indeed: Kaleiçi, with its narrow cobbled streets of historic Turkish and Greek houses is the old center of Antalya, now mainly hotels, gift shops, and many, many bars. The big new hotels such as the Sheraton are along the coast above the Konyaalti and Lara beaches, and indeed spread along the coast in both directions far beyond the city of Antalya itself.

In summer the town is heaving with tourists both from Turkey itself and sun-seeking foreigners, many from Britain and Germany and for the last few years a large number from Russia as well.

Antalya has now acquired a rich middle-class and the associated developments such as private colleges, and luxury cars. The tree-lined avenue along the cliff-top to Konyaalti is one of Antalya's best-known locations, lined with luxury apartments and posh shops; the other major shopping street is Işiklar Caddesi.

Sites of Interest in the City

Antalya Harbour

The award-winning Antalya Kaleiçi Marina and Leisure Center is considered one of the loveliest marinas in Turkey. This center can well meet every tourist's need worth its many souvenir shops, friendly cafes and restaurants as well as yacht moorings and services. Sail in the morning and enjoy the restful peace of the marina in the afternoon. The old city walls, lit at night, lend an atmosphere of serenity and timelessness.

The Hadrian's Gate

The Hadrian's Gate (or Hadrianus Gate or Üçkapılar (meaning "The Three Gates" in Turkish)) is a triumphal arch which was built in the name of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who visited Antalya in 130 A.D. It has three arched gates. According to the legend, those were the gates under which Belkis, the Queen of Saba, passed with her ships full of diamonds, on her way to visit King Solomon in Antalya. Sultan Belkis is said to have passed under those gates and to have enjoyed many a happy day in the palace in Aspendos.

Formerly the city walls enclosed the outside of the gate and it was not used for many years. This may be the reason why it has not been harmed, and it was only revealed when the walls collapsed. It is considered as Pamphylia's most beautiful Gate. The upper part has three apertures in the shape of a cupola, and except for the pillars is built entirely of white marble. The ornamentation is very striking. The original Gate was two storeys but little is known of the top storey.

On either side of the Gate are towers, which are known not to have been built at the same time. The southern one is known as the Julia Sancta tower and is a work of the Hadrian era. It was constructed of plain stone blocks. While the base of the northern tower belongs to antiquity, the upper part is left over from the Seljuks.

Yivli Minare (Fluted Minaret)

The Yivli Minare Mosque (Ulu camii) is located in Antalya, Turkey. The mosque's fluted minaret, which is decorated with dark blue tiles, is a landmark and symbol of the city. The mosque was first built in 1230 and fully reconstructed in 1373. The minaret is 38 metres high, built on a square stone base, with eight fluted sections and has 90 steps to the top.

The first building (1230) may have been a Byzantine church originally and may have been converted into a mosque around 1225-7, during the reign of the Seljuk sultan Ala ad-Din Kay Qubadh I (1220-1237). The original mosque was destroyed in the 14th century and a new mosque was built which, with its six domes, is one of the oldest examples of multi-dome construction in Anatolia.

Today the building houses the Antalya Ethnographic Museum and contains clothing, kitchen utensils, embroidery, tapestries and looms, socks, sacks, kilims, ornaments, and nomadic tents. It was opened to the public in 1974.

Hıdırlık Tower:

Hıdırlık Tower (Turkish: Hıdırlık Kulesi) is a landmark tower of tawny stone in Antalya, Turkey, where Kaleiçi meets Karaalioglu Park. It is believed to be built in Hellenistic era and was either used as a fortification or a lighthouse in the past.

The tower is situated at the southern side of the place, where the land walls of the city join the sea walls. The 14 m high structure consists a circular tower rising on a quadratic pedestal. The tower's gate at the eastern side leads to a small room, from where a narrow staircase goes up. There are signs of restoration work on the upper part done in the Seljuk and Ottoman eras.

Hırılık Tower is surrounded today with many cafés and restaurants having panoramic view of the Gulf of Antalya.

Clock Tower

The Clock Tower, onto which a clock was placed at a later period, is situated at a site known as Castle Gate. The Murat Paşa Mosque which was built by in 1570 is covered with a high dome upon a ten-corner frame. In the city centre the Sinan Mosque ordered to be built by Sheikh Sinan during the 16th century with rubble stone was built single-galleried with the short minaret made of dressed stone. The tomb of Sheikh Sinan is located opposite to the mosque.

The Korkut (Truncate Minaret) Mosque

This mosque is of particular interest because it bears the traces of a long history from antique to Ottoman. A large church was built on the foundations of a 2nd Century A.D Temple which was knocked down in the 6th Century. During the 7th Century Arab invasion is suffered great damage and was repaired in the 9th Century.

It was converted to a Mosque during the Selcuk period but in 1361 when Antalya fell to the Cyprus King Peter I it was reconverted to a church. It again began to be used as a mosque during the reigh of Sultan Bayazid II's son Prince Korkut (1470-1509). The mosque continued being used as a place of worship until 1896 when it was largly destroyed by fire. Known previously as the Korkut Mosque as well as the Friday mosque after the fire destroyed its upper section it was called the truncated mosque.

Seljuk Sultan 1st

A statue just erected in Antalya of the first Turkish conquerer of Antalya on May 5th 1207. He founded the turkish Navy and signed the first trade agreement between the Seljuk turks and the people of Antalya.

City Centre Parks

Photos from the Parks of Antalya, mainly the one close to Hidirlik Tower in the town centre.

Kaleici

The historical center of the city; now restored as the touristic centre of the city with its hotels, bars, clubs, restaurants, and shopping. Kaleici retains much of its historical character and the restoration won the Golden Apple Prize, the Oscar of tourism.

Ancient monuments include the City Walls, Hıdırlık Tower, Hadrian's Gate and the Clock Tower.

Night Life

Antalya pulses after dark with what is undeniably the Turkish south coast’s liveliest and craziest nightlife, centred on a wide variety of clubs and bars. Most bars double as discos, and most of the hotels offer floor shows, usually with belly-dancing, that are open to non-guests. The biggest spots for all night dancing are Club Ally, Club Arma (old Club 29) and Club Ceila but those who just want a quiet, cool drink gravitate to the waterfront bars in Kaleiçi or elsewhere to catch a sea breeze and have a beer or raki in the open air.

Konyaalti Beach

Konyaaltı is a district of Antalya, Turkey. The name Konyaaltı which means "below Konya" stems from the fact the city of Antalya was an administrative part of the city of Konya during the Ottoman Empire and the location of the beach is where the steep cliff of the city ends. It is situated beneath the old city of Antalya extending miles toward west with various kinds of beaches from sand to pebbles. It has Beach Park lined with clubs and bars. The daytime beach clubs turn into night clubs at sunset.

Konyaaltı Mountain Views

Lara Beach

Lara is a district of Antalya city, Turkey. It is famous with its beach (Lara beach) that is one of the longest sand beaches of Turkey. It has thematic 5 to 7 star hotels in Kundu area which most of them are the replications of Moscow cathedrals, Topkapi palace, Venice, etc.. which makes the area sometimes called the Las Vegas in Turkey.

Also there is a 2 km beach park facility that includes 11 beach club units, 4 restaurants, 4 cafes, many bars and clubs, 2 football fields, 1 amusement park, open exhibition halls, many kindergartens, beach volley fields, beach soccer fields, activity spaces, recreation areas, watersports, bycicly,skate,jogging facilities and a free car park.

Antalya Coastline

Photos of Antalya's coastline.

Atatürk Museum

The Atatürk House Museum is the house where Atatürk stayed when he visited Antalya on 6th of March 1930. It is now transformed into a museum where furnishings of that period as well as articles belonging to Atatürk were preserved.

Atatürk Statue

The statue of Atatürk in Antalya Town Centre.

Antalya Museum

Prize winning archaeology museum. See activities section for more details.

Exhibitions and Meetings

Antalya has a conference centre where international meetings and conferences take place.