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Antalya is the largest and most important city on the Turkish Mediterranean coast with its 600,000 inhabitants. In the city, modern Turkey meets the rich history that the area has lived through long before the area became part of Turkey.
In both Antalya and the surrounding area, there are countless more or less preserved ruins of the many rulers who have influenced the place to become the lovely city and region that meet the visiting holidaymakers. Therefore, in several places you can see amphitheatres and many other well-preserved ruins.
In Antalya itself there is also a lot to see and experience. You should of course go for a walk and simply enjoy the atmosphere in the city’s mild climate, and along the way you can see, for example, the remaining parts of Antalya’s city walls and city gates. Hadrian’s Gate and the tower Hidirlik are good examples of this, and there are also several interesting museums in the city.
Antalya is of course also a destination where sun and beach are something that many come here to enjoy, and it is also very easy to do. In the old town lies Antalya’s cozy harbor, from where you can go on lovely sailing trips, and a short stroll from here takes you to the city’s beautiful and wide beaches.
Antalya’s old defenses consisted of two different city walls. One was built along the water, while the other stood like a horseshoe towards the land around the city. In addition to this outer city wall, there were also city walls within the city itself. These stood between some of the individual districts, and the walls also had closely spaced defense towers built into their construction.
For most walls, it is true that these were originally built in ancient times. The walls of the Romans were thus built on foundations from the city’s Greek times, and finally the Seljuks strengthened the then walls.
Right up until the 19th century, most of the walls stood in the cityscape, but after demolition, today you get the best impression of the harbor area. Among the preserved parts are Hadrian’s Gate and Hidirlik Tower.
The well-preserved Hadrian’s Gate was built by the Romans in the year 130 as a tribute to the Emperor Hadrian when he visited the city. The gate thus functioned as a kind of triumphal arch. The fact that the gate is so well preserved is because the city walls were later built around the gate, and it was only rediscovered when these walls collapsed.
Hadrian’s Gate is considered to be the most beautiful in the region of Pamphylia and was built mainly in white marble. Stone towers have been erected on both sides of the gate. The southern tower, Julia Sancta, was to be contemporaneous with the gate itself. The foundations of the northern tower are from ancient times, while the tower itself is from the Seljuk period.
The gate’s location on the wide and beautifully landscaped modern Atatürk Boulevard is exciting, as historic Antalya meets the modern city right here.
The preserved Hidirlik Tower is the only one left of the former so many towers of Antalya’s old city walls. The tower stood in the southernmost part of the city wall towards the land. The construction is very solid and the tower had a double function.
Hidirllik Tower was part of the city’s defences, and it has also functioned as a lighthouse with its location by the harbour.
The Hidirlik Tower is 14 meters high and was built in the 100s.
Antalya Archaeological Museum is an excellent museum where the region’s finest finds are exhibited. The fine objects can be seen both indoors and in the museum’s garden.
The collection ranges in time from ancient settlements to the Ottoman era. The museum is clearly divided, and here are among other things old statues of gods, Roman sculptures, Greek and Roman coins, floor mosaics and handicrafts from the Ottoman Empire.
Yivli Minare is a mosque that is known by various names such as Ulu Cami, which means The Great Mosque. Yivli Minare is a multi-domed complex that was built under the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad in the 13th century.
The mosque is particularly known for the characteristic minaret, which has become one of Antalya’s landmarks. The minaret is 38 meters high and rests on an octagonal foundation. Its sleek lines can be seen from large parts of the city.
An ethnographic museum was set up in the complex in 1974, where you can see interesting collections of embroidery, textiles and nomadic tents.
Kaleiçi Museum was established in 1993-1995 in two older buildings, which were previously an Orthodox church and a Turkish house.
The church, Agios Georgios, is a beautiful building whose origins are unknown. However, a restoration took place in 1863. The style of the church is typical for this part of the Mediterranean region. The Turkish house is typical of Antalya. On a visit, you get a good impression of the layout of the home and its various functions.
The museum is an interesting place with exciting effects, primarily covering the Suna-Inan Kiraç collection, which includes contains a lot of ceramics and many art objects from Canakkale and Klitahya.
The city of Side offers both very beautiful and lovely beaches and fun amusements at the same time as the historic buildings that can be found in many places in the city. Side’s foundation is not completely established, but it is believed to have been founded in the area’s Hittite period.
Side’s location below the Taurus Mountains on the coast has over time created prosperity, which was the basis for the many buildings. The city’s well-preserved city walls and city gates are beautiful monuments that date from Greco-Roman times, when the city was protected by water and land.
The remains of the aqueduct, which brought water from the foot of the Taurus mountains, stand in various places in Side. The water ran i.a. to the city’s bathing facilities, which have today been restored and turned into a museum. The museum shows both bathing facilities and archaeological finds from Side and its surroundings.
The city’s large Roman theater holds 15,000 seats. It is special compared to the other theaters in the region, as it is not built on a slope, but is freestanding. The theater has two floors and measures 20 meters in height with its beautiful arches. From the upper rows of the theater there is a fantastic view over Side, the sea and some of the city’s Roman ruins.
In addition to these memorials from the city’s past, you can also experience a triumphal arch, harbor facilities, baths, fountains, cisterns and the well-known Temple of Apollo from the city’s early history.
Aspendos was one of the most important cities in Pamphylia, strategically located at the mouth of the Kopru River in the Mediterranean. Aspendos’ strategic good location quickly led to the city becoming a major trading centre.
Among other things, the largest Roman amphitheater in Turkey is located here, which with its 15,000 spectator seats is very impressive. The theater is considered to have almost perfect acoustics, and it is still used today for various events such as concerts and plays.
Aspendos is also where you can see an impressive aqueduct, the largest remaining in Turkey. It is 880 meters long, 15 meters high and 5.5 meters wide. Finally, you can see the remains of Aspendos’ historic basilica, and the city’s agora, which, like the city itself, was supposed to have been founded by settlers from Argos.
Termessos is one of the Antalya region’s most interesting excavations. The historic city was located at an altitude of 1,050 meters in the Taurus mountains, and it is known from history when Alexander the Great in 333 BC. besieged it, but did not conquer it.
Termessos flourished for a few centuries, but after stagnation and decline the place was abandoned in the 4th century. Today you can experience a number of ruins from Termessos’ heyday, such as a Roman theatre, a triumphal arch, a cistern, a gymnasium and the city’s agora.
As in the former Myra, St. Nikolaos in Demre at the beginning of the fourth century as a priest and later as a bishop. He has since become known as Santa Claus or simply Father Christmas. St. Nikolaos’ mortal remains lay in the city until a robbery in 1087, when most of the relics were brought to Bari, while the rest can be found today in Antalya’s Archaeological Museum.
History tells that St. Nikolaos threw bags of gold coins down the chimney to poor married women for their dowries. St. Nikolaos Church is Demre’s most visited attraction. The original church was destroyed by an earthquake in 529 and a basilica was then built. It was destroyed in 1034 during an attack on the city and rebuilt in 1000-1100. However, the clock tower is a more recent addition from 1876.
A few kilometers from today’s Demre are the ruins of the Roman Myra. Here you will find the remains of a theater as well as the distinctive rock tombs, which are mausoleums that were carved into the mountainsides.
Çağdaş Sk. 5, Kepez
agoraantalyaavm.com
Serik Caddesi 309, Kepez
deepo.com.tr
Atatürk Caddesi 104, Serik
thelandoflegendsthemepark.com
Serik Caddesi 309, Kepez
mallofantalya.com.tr
Kazım Özalp Caddesi 84, Muratpaşa
markantalya.com
Atatürk Blv. 3, Konyaaltı
antalyamigros.com
Tekelioğlu Caddesi 55, Muratpaşa
terracity.com.tr
Fikri Erten Caddesi 2, Kepez
ozdilekparkantalya.com.tr
Land of Legends
Atatürk Cad., Serik
thelandoflegends.com
Aktur Park
Atatürk Blv. 4, Konyaaltı
akturpark.com.tr
Antalya Aquarium
Dumlupınar Blv. 502, Konyaaltı
antalyaaquarium.com
Selfie Park
Fener Mah., Muratpaşa
selfieparkantalya.com
Sandland
Lara Caddesi, Muratpaşa
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Dino Park
Adnan Menderes Caddesi 69, Göynük
dinopark.com.tr
The lush and well-located Antalya region has been inhabited for millennia. Some of the earliest peoples in the area were the Hittites, who immigrated from the Caucasus in 2500 BC, and the entire Antalya region became part of the Hittite kingdom. When settlers from Thrace came to the region in 600-700 BC. it was the end of the Hittite civilization, and the new cities of Pamphylia, Lycia and Cicilia were founded along the Mediterranean coast.
Until 546 BC the area belonged to Lydia, after which the Persians took over power in the region. It was the Macedonian Alexander the Great who in 336 overcame most cities in the area. After Alexander’s death in 323 BC. continued scattered wars until the late 100s BC.
Peace came to the area after the final victory of the King of Pergamon, and then Antalya itself was founded in the same century by King Attales II, who named the city Attaleia after himself.
In 43, the Romans under Claudius founded a new kingdom by uniting Pamphylia and Lycia, and the following centuries were a time of great prosperity for Antalya.
The city’s defenses were built and expanded in 130. It was also at this time that Emperor Hadrian visited the city, and the still-preserved Hadrian’s Gate was later built. Under Constantinople’s leadership in the fourth and fifth centuries, prosperity increased, and now the city had grown outside its city walls.
In the 6th century, the influence of Arabs began. In 860 the city was conquered by Admiral Karinoglu Fazl, but after a short period the city became part of Byzantium. After some centuries of stagnation and weakening of the political leadership, in 1085 the Antalya region came under the Muslim Seljuk kingdom and ruler.
However, Byzantium had not yet given up the flourishing and important trading area, and already in 1103 Antalya was captured under the leadership of the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus.
During the following 17 years, countless battles were fought between the Byzantine armies and the Seljuks. The city changed hands no less than six times. Byzantium overcame the Seljuks in 1120. The ensuing period was peaceful, and Antalya remained under Byzantine rule until 1206.
In 1206, the Seljuk sultan, Giyaseddin Keyhusrev I, conquered Antalya, but after his death the city was once again ruled by the Christian side. The Sultan’s son, Keykayus, attacked and invaded the city, and another short period of changing powers and governments had begun.
The economic and military ability of the Seljuks was continuously weakened throughout the 13th century, and the former Seljuk kingdom was divided into a number of independent emirates, including Antalya, which was independent for 95 years.
The Turkish Ottomans increased their influence in and around present-day Turkey, and also the attractive Mediterranean areas became Turkish at the end of the 14th century.
Sultan Murat became Antalya’s first Ottoman regent, and the area’s Turkish period had thus begun. Mosques and Muslim institutions were built in the city, and the interesting buildings from this period are clearly visible in Antalya’s streetscape today. The Ottoman era was a calm period, where there was good fertile ground for ongoing economic and cultural development.
Antalya was part of the Ottoman Empire until World War I, which was the downfall of the empire and the sultanate. After the World War, in 1919, Antalya was conquered by the Italians, who saw the possibilities for expansion in the area.
During the Turkish War of Independence for a new and independent Turkey, they were supported by e.g. Italy, and already in 1921 an Italian withdrawal began so that Antalya could become part of the present Turkish Republic. Over the past decades, the city has experienced an economic boom, not least due to the positive development of tourism.
Antalya, Turkey
Overview of Antalya
Antalya is the largest and most important city on the Turkish Mediterranean coast with its 600,000 inhabitants. In the city, modern Turkey meets the rich history that the area has lived through long before the area became part of Turkey.
In both Antalya and the surrounding area, there are countless more or less preserved ruins of the many rulers who have influenced the place to become the lovely city and region that meet the visiting holidaymakers. Therefore, in several places you can see amphitheatres and many other well-preserved ruins.
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