Alanya
Alanya lies on the gradually descending southern slopes of the Taurus Mountains one of our most South-eastern resort in Turkey.It lies on the Mediterranean coast approximately one and a half hours away from the region’s largest city,Antalya. Alanya has quite a past history,being part of the powerful empire of the Seljuk Turks that thrived from 1071 to 1243.Although the Empire’s capital was Konya,Alanya was its prime port with a large naval base.With its unique defensive position and well-sheltered harbour,the city also played an important role during the much earlier Hellenistic era of Alexander the Great and served as a refuge for pirates under the Roman Empire. Today,Alanya is a long,sprawling,modern resort bordered all along the front by two magnificent beaches stretching as far as the eye can see and dominated in the centre by a huge rock promontory jutting into the Med which offers the visitor the most breathtaking views over Alanya and the panoramic backdrop of the Taurus mountains.Alanya offer the holidaymakers everything they could want in the way of watersports,restaurants,nightlife and shopping and is often referred to as Turkey’s answer to Miami.The Old Quarter,however,stil retainig its mystery and charm with its Ottoman style buildings and narrow,winding streets should cater to those holidaymakers who want a mix of beach life and culture. The Fortress has to be one of the most exciting historical sites of Alanya.It sits atop the spectacular promontory.Within the walls you can stil see today,remains of the iner castle,the Mosque,the Bedesten(thought to be the castle’s ýnn)which contains over25 rooms,the reservoir,the palace and also a church.You could spend all day just wandering around these historical ruins. The Red Tower is a magnificent building,dating back to 1225 that played an important part in the defence of the town throughout Alanya’s buccaneering history.The Tower is an octagonal structure of 5 storeys and is situated at a point where the eastern coastal walls join the northern walls. The Shipyard-a path leads to the old Seljuk shipyard that dates back to 1228.Its walls are built of hard Stone blocks and its arches and domes of brick.There are five vaulted arches where shipbuilding and repairs were made.It was also the place where captured vessels,including slave ships,were brought in and their bounty unloaded on to the quays.It is considered one of the best-preserved shipyards of the Middle Ages. Alanya is a long,sprawling,modern resort bordered all along the front by two magnificent beaches stretching as far as the eye can see.
Favourite bars : After an extremely arduous day of sunbathing,you will doubt want to partake of some evening action.There is something to suit everyone in Alanya.A range of nightlife awaits you from discos to disco-bars,bars offering live music and pavement lounge bars where you can simply sit and sip a cappuccino and observe the world go by.If you want something lively,then the closer you get towards the town’s centre,the more spirited it gets,if you want something a little more subdued,stroll east.In the Old Harbour area you will find a mixture including some bars with a more Turkish flavour. Some of our favourites are Katacombe(which also has karaoke)and the Elvis Bar(you can guess what this one has,though he has lost a bit of weight!)
Favourite restaurants : Feeling peckish,looking for a good place to eat?Again,the choice is yours.Alanya offers a variety of restaurants to suit all ‘pockets’and ‘tastes’.From small and friendly lokantas offering traditional Turkish food(around the PTT area)to international cuisine,Chinese,Italian and German.You can choose one of the more expensive fish restaurants along the harbour-front(do agree the price of your fish before sitting down,as fresh fish is charged by its weight and can sometimes work out to be quite expensive) Some favourites of ours are Crusoe(a cute little restaurants with a wide Indian menu for curry lovers and a touch of English fort he home sick);Blue Star(Turkish cuisine at its finest); Happy Days-Chinese.
Beaches : If lazing in the sun all day be your inclination or taking part in some energetic watersport,you’ve come to the right place.There are two main beaches,one on either side of the promontory.The one to the west has slightly finer sand, whilst the one to the east is a blend of sand and shingle.Wherever you are staying,you will find you wont have to venture far to find your sunbathing and swimming spot fort he day.There is an abundance of water sports available at all of Alanya’s beaches together with sunbeds and umbrellas for hire.You will even see the odd loca lor two strolling up and down the beach selling delicious pastries and fruit,served to you at your sunbed-what more could you want?
Sooping and markets : Alanya offers the shopaholic an oasis!From about half-way along the eastern beach right throught to the centre and the Old Quarter you will find a wealth of shops from designer clothing,carpets,jewellery,cassettes,ceramics,chemists and so on.Dotted along the beaches mainr road you will also find street-sellers and shoeshine boys.There is also a weekly market situated near the Dolmus Station,where you can pick up lots of bargains and savour the pungent smell of spices,fruits and vegetables.Shops are generally open from 09.00 until 23.00 hrs.
THE PROMONTORY and castle of Alanya are visible for miles and offer superb views of beaches and mountains. Now a large modern resort, in Roman times Alanya was called Coracesium, and was a stronghold of the pirates who menaced the grain fleets on their passage to Rome. After the defeat of the pirates in 65 BC, Coracesium became a thriving city. The Seljuk ruler, Alaeddin I Keykubad , made Alanya his winter residence and fortifed it heavily. A double line of defensive walls mount the promontory to enclose the Citadel (Kale), inside which is a Byzantine church. Punctuated by towers and gates, the walls are still in good condition. It takes about an hour to walk to the top, but there is an hourly bus service. The harbour is commanded by the 35-m-high (115-ft) Red Tower (Kýzýlkule), a hexagonal structure built by Alaeddin Keykubad I in 1226 and now restored. The Red Tower propected Alanya’s strategic dockyard, or tersane, which could accommodate five ships under construction at once. In Seljuk times, the plentiful local forests provided ample timber for shipbuilding and even for export. The garden of the museum has a collection of farming tools as well as items from Pamphylian inscription from the 6th century BC, shows the development of lettering from its cuneiform origins. Atatürk visited Alanya for a few days in 1935. The owner of the house where he stayed turned it into a museum. The ground floor has photographs and Atatürk memorabilia, and the upper floor displays the furniture of a typical Alanya house in Republican times. There are several caves around the base of the cliffs, including a phosphorus cave, a pirate cave and a lovers cave. The best known is the stalactite-hung Damlataþ Cave , said to provide relief from asthma. The internal temperature registers a steady 23 C. Access is from the western beach, behind to Damlataþ restaurant.Alanya (ancient Korakesion) which is 168 kms. to the east of Antalya is situated on a rocky peninsula. With its unique defensive position and well-sheltered harbour, the city played an important role during the Hellenistic period and served as a refuge for pirates under the Roman rule. After being captured by Alaeddin Keykubat I, the Seljuk Sultan, and turned into a naval base, the city grew in size and population and was called Alaiye which later became Alanya. Following the decline of the Seljuks, Alanya passed into the hands of the Karamanlis. Remains of the walls from the Classical age can still be seen on the peninsula. The present castle built by Alaeddin Keykubat I consists of three walls. In the early ages there were boat stations along the sea where ships loaded cedar. Owing to its strong defenses Korakesion was able to resist successfully the troops of Antiochus who invaded Cilicia. Alanya assumed importance in the Seljuk period with its ship-building industry, but it suffered heavy destruction later during the battles between the armies of Sultan Mehmet II, and Karamanogul-lan, and like other cities in this region, it never regained its former level of prosperity.
The Walls: The old part of the city is surrounded by walls. The outer walls surrounded the peninsula, and the inner walls divided the Castle into three parts for defensive purposes and were built during the reign of Alaeddin Keykubat I. Remains of an older wall dating back to Greek and Roman times can also be seen here and there. One can go from one of these sections to another by means of fortified courtyards. The highest section is the Inner Castle. The original Seljuk and Ottoman settlements were in the section between the Second and Third Walls. There is an inscription belonging to Keykubat I, above the entrance to the First Wall. This inscription is dated 1230. There are in this part, the Castle Mosque (Kale Camii) which is built on the foundations of a Seljuk Mosque in the XVIth century, the Bedesten, the Mosque and the Turbe ( tomb ) of Akshebe Sultan. The entrances to the Inner, Middle and Outer Walls, and their inscriptions date from the SelJuk period. The Castle Walls are two-storied. The Castle has four main entrances, which were formerly covered with three layers of iron'plates.
The Bedesten: This is a Turkish building in the Inner Castle to the northeast of the Mecduddin reservoir and Akshebe Mosque. It consists of 26 rooms and a store-house all looking on a rectangular courtyard 13 meters wide and 35 meters fong. There are two rooms on both sides of the entrance, four rooms on the opposite side, and ten rooms on the longer sides of the rectangular courtyard. The rooms are 3.50 x 5.40 meters, and their entrances are built of brick in arched form. The Bedesten is believed to be either a store-house for the Castle or an inn.
RUINS OF ALANYA
Kizilkule (The Red Tower): This magnificent building is situated at a point where the eastern coastal walls join the northern walls. This impressive fortress which is a genuine work of art was built By Ebu Ali, a well-known architect in 1225. Son of Kettani Reha Of Aleppo, Ebu Ali built many famous casties in Turkey. The Red Tower is an octagonal structure, each side measurirs 12.50 metres. On each side there are parapets, loopholes, and openings for pouring molten pitch or boiling water. The tower, which Is decorated with many inscriptions is five-storied. The first two stories are built of a reddish stone, and the upper stories are Of large red bricks. The interior arrangement of the Red Tower presents genuine architectural skill. The entrance to the Tower Is on the western side facing the Castle. On the Ground Floor there are eight compartments divided by eight magnificent arches. A stairway built of stone leads from the Ground Floor to the First Floor where there are eighteen arches. Along the parapets there is a corridor built of bricks. In the middle of the Tower la a large reservoir which is at present filled with rubble. This Tower Is unique in possessing such a water system. The top of the tower was originally covered with a conical roof. Water was drained from this roof into the reservoir by means of special drain-pipes built on the roof. A small door in the western part of the Second Floor leads to the top of the adjoining Castle and its fortresses.
The Shipyard: There is a Seljuk shipyard consisting of 5 com-partments within the Coastal Walls to the south of the Red Tower. This unique work of art, where bootmakers still build sailihgboats. is over 700 years old. Its walls are built of hard stone blocks, and Its arches and domes of brick. It has an entrance 2.50 x 1.60 meters built of marble, above which is an inscription written in the Seljuk style. There is a room on each side of the entrance, the one on the left being the guard room, while the one on the right served as the mosque for the shipyard. This entrance leads to the first compartment of the shipyard. Each of the five compartments of the shipyard is 7.70 meters wide and 42.30 meters long. There are wide arched doors between compartments. In the ceilings of the compartments are skylights. There is a spring in the third comportment. The roof of the shipyard is flat.
The Fortresses: Built for the purpose of protecting the shipyard are two fortresses on one of which is an inscription of Alaeddin Keykubat.
The Alaeddin Mosque: This mosque is situated behind the ship- yard. It has lost many of its characteristics owing to many repairs and alterations that it has been subjected to through the centuries.
The Aksebe Sultan Mosque: There is a beautiful small mosque on a dominating slope above the Bedesten and the famous Mecduddin Reservoir. This fine mosque was, according to its inscription built during the reign of Alaeddin Keykubat. It is built of large deep red bricks in the interior, and of stone on the exterior. The dome and the minaret are also built of red brick. It has an entrance on the north side. Only the lower part of the minaret remains today. A second mosque to be used in summer, and a tomb were built beside the Aksebe Sultan Mosque.
The Castle Mosque: The Castle Mosque which is in the central part of the Castle is built on the foundations of an older mosque. It is believed to have been built in the XVIth century. The roof
consists of a single dome supported by four walls. The main entrance has a frieze around it. Long and thick bricks were used in the construction.
The Reservoir: Alanya is a city of cisterns (or reservoirs). Many houses within the Cqstle are still provided with cisterns. The Mecduddin Cistern between the Aksebe Mosque and the Bedesten within the Middle Castle is a remarkable one. This cistern which is fed with rain water is still in use, and many houses within the Inner Castle obtain their water from it. Through an opening on the top there are steps going down. Although this cistern has no inscriptions, it is probable that it was built by Karamanoglu Mecuddin Mah mut, one of the Beys of Alanya. The present inscription by Alaeddin Keykubat I was a later addition.
The Palace: Sultan Keykubat's palace was within the walls on the highest part of the hill. Remains of this palace can still be seen today.
The Church: There is a small single-domed Byzantine church close to the palace. A corridor links the dome and the entrance Remains of frescoes representing the lives of the Saints can be seen on the interior walls.
