Alanya - the pearl
of Turkish Riviera
Alanya is a fast growing town about 135
km east of Antalya. Quite often called
the pearl of the Turkish Riviera, Alanya
has become well known world wide because
of its sandy, clean beaches, the crystal
clear, deep blue waters and the
excellent climate of the Mediterranean
area.
Its historical development, numerous
sights of natural beauty and its
multicultural life style have made
Alanya into something really special.
Lots of different types of water sports
are on offer, and its picturesque bazaar
and never-ending night life have made
Alanya into a famous holiday resort on
the Turkish Riviera for Turkish as well
as for European people. There is a joke
about the town which says Alanya has
been conquered by Europeans and then set
free as a Turkish holiday resort.
Alanya was a very important harbour for
the Seljuk people. Now it is the Miami
of Turkey. Over the years, Alanya has
become one of the most important tourist
cities in Turkey.
Because of its subtropical climate, more
and more tourists stay in Alanya during
the winter as well, when it is
comfortable and relaxing, partly because
its small restaurants, bars and shops
are not as crowded as they are in
summer.
The
Environment
The ancient town formerly called Alaiye
is situated at the eastern end of the
Gulf of Antalya. The town is situated on
a peninsula of thick marble stone and is
overlooked by an old Seldjuk castle. To
the right and left of this huge mountain
the sandy beaches meet the feet of the
mountain. Immediately away from the
coastline the land rises to the peaks of
the Taurus Mountains, the highest one
nearest Alanya being the Ak Dagi (2647
metres in height).
Alanya and its surroundings are in an
area of subtropical Mediterranean
climate with very mild winters and dry
summers. Because of this there are no
huge fruit gardens in the area as there
is not enough water from the ground and
no artificial irrigation system has been
introduced. Instead of the fruit gardens
you will find a kind of steppe
vegetation with bushes of oleanders and
wild olive and eucalyptus trees all
along the coastline. It is only in
spring that the scenery changes from the
grey of the mountain ranges to the green
of the grass and lots of small flowers.
Winter
Health Resort, Seaside Resort and the
Seldjuks
Because of its picturesque position, its
subtropical climate and certainly its
wonderful beaches, many people visit
Alanya both as a winter health resort
and as a seaside resort. The number of
historical buildings created by the
Seldjuks also draws people to the area.
The town's name has changed several
times throughout its history. About 2200
years ago its name was Korakesion
(Coracesium) when it was a Kilikian
fortress against the kingdom of
Pamphylia. About 200 BC, a pirate leader
called Diodoros Tryphon started building
the first castle. This was destroyed by
Pompeius at the end of his campaign
against the pirates. Following these
events Alanya came under Roman control
and leadership. A little later Antonius
gave Alanya to Kleopatra as a present.
Much later, under the leadership of the
Seldjuks (from 1221), Alanya became more
famous when Sultan Alaeddin Kaikobad
used it as one of his winter resorts and
changed the name to Alaiye. Between 1226
and 1231 he started building the castle
and the harbour as one of his marine
bases. This led to the town becoming
more and more important to the Seldjuk
control of the seas. However, because
there wasn´t enough protection from the
sea and the distance inland to the
mountains was so small, the town did not
become important economically.
Around the
Castle Mountain
The old parts of the town of Alanya go
back to the Seldjuks and the Osman
kingdoms when houses were built in the
space between the lower and the higher
town walls at the eastern part of the
castle mountain, mostly on ancient
foundations. The newer part of Alanya is
on the north eastern side of the Castle
Mountain and is still growing into the
huge agricultural areas to the left and
right of it.
A winding road passes the old Alanya
houses, reaching the top of the mountain
at the southern wall of the castle,
which leads to the higher courtyard. At
its northern end you will find Kale
Camii (Mosque of the Castle). At the
southern end of the courtyard a
lighthouse, built in 1720, can be
visited. At the western end of the wall
you will find a completely enclosed
citadel from where you will have a
really beautiful view of the
Mediterranean Sea, the beaches of Alanya
and the green fruit gardens leading to
the mountains of the Ak Dagi.
At the northern part of the Castle
Mountain, at the start of the sandy
beaches, you will find a cave which was
discovered while excavating in 1948. The
cave is called ?Damlatas Cave (Damlatas
means stalactite). The stalactites
inside reach heights of 15 metres. All
year long the temperature inside the
cave remains constant at 22° C. The high
amount of carbonic acid (five times
higher than outside) and the
radioactivity of the air are used by the
population for the treatment of asthma
and bronchitis. Next to the entrance,
souvenir shops and restaurants await
your visit as do the sandy beaches next
to the cave.
Just a short walk away from the cave you
will find the Museum of Alanya with lots
of ancient relics on show. It was opened
in 1967. In the courtyard there is an
old ruin of a Byzantine church still to
be seen, which is quite famous because
of its cross shaped ground plan.
If you follow the walls down again to
the harbour you will reach Kizi Kule
(Red Tower), built by the architect Ebu
Ali from Aleppo during the reign of
Alaeddin Kaikobad, who was also
responsible for the drawing of the plans
of the fortress of Sinop in 1225. This
building, one of the sights of Alanya
was restored in 1948. With its height of
46 metres and octagonal walls each 12.5
metres in length, this building is one
of the landmarks of Alanya. It was built
to defend the wharf situated next to the
tower. The Seldjuk wharf, measuring 42.5
metres by 7.7 metres, was built in 1227
directly into the marble stone of the
Castle Mountain. Sultan Alaeddin
Kaikobad used this wharf to build his
ships in order to extend his power in
the eastern part of the Mediterranean
Sea. The wood for building the ships
came from the Taurus Mountains near
Alanya. This wharf was still used for
ship building until 1950.
The
Surroundings of Alanya
On either side of the Castle Mountain
you will find long, wide beaches which
are some of the best places for
sunbathing and swimming in Turkey.
Towards the west, the road leads to
ancient places such as Hamaxia, Augae
and Ptolemäis (by the mountains of Figla
Burun) and after about 16 kilometres
reaches the caravanserai of Sarapsahan,
built in the form of a fortress.
Following the road to the north, after
about 12 kilometres you will reach the
old Seldjuk caravanserai of Alarahan,
built in 1231.
Following the road to the south east of
Alanya, after about 50 kilometres you
will reach the small city of Gazipasa,
which is situated approximately three
kilometres inland close by some of the
rivers flowing into the Mediterranean
Sea.
Around Gazipasa, some places go down
almost vertically from the Taurus
Mountains to the beach. In one of the
highest places you can see the ruins of
an old fortress and houses of the
ancient town of Selinous, built by the
Phoenicians after the Roman king Trajan
died there on the way back from his war
in Parthehr in 177 AD. Lots of ruins
have been found there and, while trying
to find more on the western side of the
mountain, terraces were discovered on
which were built large walls with a huge
number of protection towers, leading
from the top down to the cliffs. Down at
the river there was a theatre, the shape
of which you can only imagine because
the seats are completely gone. Other
huge constructions were the tomb of
Trajan and an aqueduct built to bring
the water down from the mountains.