ALANYA

Historical Sites - Hotels

About Alanya
The inhabitancy of Alanya goes back to the dark ages. This was proved by the explorations and investigations carried out by Prof. Kylyc Kokten in 1957 who found human skeletons and fossils in the Kadiini Cave located between the villages of Bademagacy and Oba in the northeast directions of the center of the province. Alanya, which has such a rich and deep historical inheritance, sometimes became a part of Kilikia and sometimes was a part of Pamphylia. Heredot the father of history writes about this region "It is known that the people that lived in this region received clans that came after the Troy war (1820 B.C.)". Evidence is seen that the Hittites came here in the first half of the XIV Th. century B.C. and killed about six thousand people and included Kilikia and Pamphylia into their dominion. Pamphylia is a word meaning "multiracial, multikind".

The fertility of the lands, densely populated forests, the unpassable Taurus mountins protecting the coastline from the inland attracted those who came to visit and made them to settle here. I believe in the future we will have to look hard find our Alanian fellowman. Although the whole of Kilikia was invaded by the Great Antiochus in 224-188 B.C. it preserved its independence because of the difficulty encountered in the siege and conquest of Coracesium. The Coracesium went even further to threaten the Assyrian Kingdom and went on to exercise piracy as an easy way of living. In this period Coracesium retained its independence although it was under the influence of the Greek civilization. This is endorsed with the finding of objects for example phallus and tear bottles in Syedra where many churches are concentrated. Coracesium became a place of terror in the hands of a pirate leader Tryphon. To protect himself he built a thick wall by using large stones with no cement from the present Arab Evliyasi to Ehmedek. This notorious pirate leader used the cave presently named Kizlar Yarigi or Korsanlar Magarasi to store the loot. Also according to the rumors he separated the Alanya Castle (Coracesium) as an island by digging a channel between the present Damlatas Cave and the Council House. They had the courage to sneak into the shores of the Roman Empire a powerful empire of the period, to obtain ransom from the rich, they kidnapped the daughters of the known personalities and taxed the area. Due to these circumstances no-one could sail into the Mediterranean and therefore the city of Rome was starved of hunger. With the intention of freeing the people from their problems, this notorious pirate leader was wiped out by the battle proclaimed on him by Anthiochus in 139 B.C.. The pirates regained strength later, to find an eventual solution, the Roman emperor appointed Anthiochus with extensive powers. In spite Anthiochus enlarged the Empire's borders the pirates day by day grew even stronger and continued to harass many towns and cities along the Mediterranean shores. Pirates went even further by kidnapping the daughter of Anthiochus and annoyed the Romans furiously. This time to find an absolute ending to these harassment's the Roman Emperor appointed Pompeus who was one of the most powerful commanders of the army to put a stop to the pirates activities. With his merciless attacks from the land and sea this commander wiped out the pirates, who had terrorized the Mediterranean for many years, to the degree that they could not develop strength again.

The Romans who ruled these regions in every sense handed over the Kilikia region to Antonius after the death of Caesar. In these periods while the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, known with her beauty world wide, was touring in the Mediterranean she met Antonius. After falling in love with each other Cleopatra and Antonius got married. As a wedding gift Antonius gave Coracesium (Alanya) to Cleopatra. It is known that in this period the cedar and pine trees extending as far as the coast had been cut by Cleopatra and sent to Egypt to be used in the construction of ships for her fleet. Not being able to stand the relation between Antonius and Cleopatra Octavius in Rome declared a war against them. At that time Cleopatra and Antonius were in Greece. The lovers met a great assault from Octavius and escaped to the forelands of Alexandria. Fearing capture the lovers killed themselves using a snake firstly Antonius and later Cleopatra with a bite to her bosoms. The places torn down by Pompeii's during the campaign against the pirates were rebuilt by the Romans in a better way. The best example of these are the churches in the castle and on the Cilvarda nose and also the Asarlyk Churches in the town of Mahmutlar and nearby the Kargycak Village. After being rebuilt by the Romans Coracesium (Alanya) preserved its importance until VII th century, and later when the Arab attacks had started it gained greater importance. During the Byzantine period it was named Kolonoros meaning "beautiful mountain". The old name Coracesium was said to be meant "Gokkarga", and furthermore inhabitants were said to be named "gokkargalylar". Gokkarga is a kind of bird seen often in the old times in Alanya, with its many colors this beautiful bird can nevertheless be seen rarely around Camyolu and the Mahmutlar regions. KIZIL KULE (RED TOWER) After capturing Alanya in 1221, Sultan Aladdin Keykubat gives an order to build a monument which will ensure that Alanya, the symbol of the Turkish rule over the seas, will always stay under the sovereignty of the Turks. Kizil Kule, which still stands strong in its grandeur as it was the day it was built, is named after the reddish stones used in the lower section also after the bricks in the upper section. The cut stones used in the lower section of the tower are believed to be brought from the east of the Dim Strait. Due to the site that Kizil Kule is built on, there is 2 meters difference in elevation between the west side and the east side of the tower. Therefore the height in the east side is 35 meters and the height in the west side is 33 meters. Portraying a smooth octagonal shape the tower is of five storeys. At Kizil Kule, the section which rises up to the fourth floor right in the middle forms the backbone of the tower, is also used as an extension of the museum to exhibit ethnographic artifacts used around Alanya. It is known that water requirement throughout the year was met by collecting the rain water into the cistern during the winter months with the use of small conduits around the tower. THE SELJUK SHIPYARD This shipyard was built two years after the Kizil Kule (Red Tower) in 1228 by Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat. With this effort the Sultan realized his wish of becoming "Sultan -ul- bahreyn" (the Sultan of the two seas) by preventing possible attacks that may come from the east. The shipyard is 56.5 meters long, 44 meters wide and consists of five chambers. Each chamber is 7.70 meters wide and 42.30 meters deep. ALARA FORTRESS This is an unusual tower built on a mountain rising straight up from the bed of the Alara stream which is 200 m. north of the Alara Han. It is not known when it was built, but it was repaired by the Seljuks when they captured it in 1231 and it was used for a long time during the Ottoman era. ALARA INN Thirty kilometres before reaching Alanya on the Antalya-Alanya highway,one has to make a turn to Alara Han and continue 10 kms. It was built in 1231 on the orders of Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I. It is a very solid construction, entered through a gate with inscriptions and lion heads. It has somewhat the appearance of a fortress as if warding it from aggressors. LEATRES-LEATRI This historical city is situated 22 kms. from the center of the province, on a hill of 900 m. high Cebelireis Mountain, and is surrounded with sharp drops in the east, west and south directions. Today it is known that in relation to this historical town, coins were minted in the names of Trojan and Empress Herennia Etruscill. Found here churches, baths, cisterns, various dwellings, a small stadium, a theater, colonnaded streets and worshipping places almost all are in a bad condition. The remnant next to the stadium is the center of a church standing with its side naves and abscissa and having traces of red and light blue coloured frescoes in the interior. The innumereous inscriptions and the reliefs depicting the claws of an eagle and ox heads often seen in these ruins inherently takes one back deep into history. According to the inscriptions that are available, this area lived its best period between the first and third centuries. The temples that the city had between these centuries are Zeus-Megistos, Apollon and Caesar. SYEDRA ARCHEOLOGICAL RUINS The city of Syedra is situated on a hill which is the demarcation line between the present day villages of Kargycak and Seki. It is at a distance of 20 kms. to the center of Alanya. The center of the city or the big city is situated on a large hill. Now if you like, let's walk on the colonnaded street on which once the Kings and Queens used to stroll. This road is situated to the north of the temple and extends from east to west. We shall finally conclude our visit after walking along the colonnaded street and observing various ruined buildings on both sides of the road and the wall tabloids made with different colored mosaics that have lost very little from their originality after so many centuries. From the inscriptions and the coins minted in the names of Marcus Aureoles and Antonius between the years 138 and 161 found in the area, this big city is known to be the remnants of the Roman period. IOTAPE HISTORICAL PORT CITY Iotape, which is known as Aytap by the local people, is 30 kms. to the east of Alanya. This city was named after King Antiachus' wife Iotape. During the progressing years, especially in the Roman Emperor Trainus (98-117) period, he had coins minted for his name. Although, this city has the appearance of the Roman period, we do not have any evidence of the clans that might have lived before, therefore Iotape can be rightly said to be a Roman period city. The city has a natural port measuring 50x100 meters. SARAPSA INN This site, 15 km. before Alanya and was built during the time of the Seljuk Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhusrev II (1236-1245). It was constructed on a large area and the stone ceiling is still in a good state of repair. It is closed to the south. It, too, has the appearance of a fortress; its ornamental gate is on the north side. A small mosque is next to it.

Alanya

Alanya