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ALL TURKEY TOURS |
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INFORMATION |
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ALANYA;
Alanya is a touristic center on Turkey's Mediterranean coast
135 kilometers east of Alanya. Excavations have shown that
the Alanya area was inhabited as early as prehistoric times.
Antalya first appears in the 2nd century B.C. as a pirate
lair and it was known then as Korakesion. The Romans later
captured the town in their campaign to suppress piracy in
the eastern Mediterranean. It came under Byzantine rule
after 395.
In 1220 the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I took the city
and had the great castle and dockyards built. Known then as
Alaiye, a name derived from that of the sultan, the city was
used by the Seljuks as their naval base in the Mediterranean
and it remained an important military post in Ottoman times.
A century later the Arab traveler Ibn Battuta visited Alanya
and described it thus:
The city of Alaiye is a large town on the seacoast. It is
inhabited by Turtkomans and is visited by the merchants of
Cairo, Alexandria, and Syria. The district is f well-wooded
and wood is exported from there to Alexandria and Damietta,
whence it is carried to the other cities of Egypt. There is
a magnificent and formidable citadel, built by Sultan
Alaeddin at the upper end of the town.
The "magnificent and formidable citadel" was built by
Alaeddin Keykubad I in 1226 on the site of an earlier
fortress. (Strabo refers to one being here in Roman times.)
It consists of three sections: an inner keep, the central
castle, and an external redoubt.
The inner keep contains cisterns, the ruins of a Seljuk
palace, a fresco-decorated courtyard, military
fortifications, and a Byzantine chapel in the middle. At the
northwestern corner is a place where prisoners condemned to
death were hurled over the precipice by means of catapults.
The central castle contains a masjid built in 1230 by Akþebe
Sultan as well as her tomb. Suleymaniye Mosque was
originally constructed in 1231 but was rebuilt during the
reign of Suleyman the Magnificent when an Ottoman arasta
(row of shops) was added. There is also a 17th century
Ottoman khan.
Located on the outer walls of the castle is Kizil Kule (Red
Tower), so called because of the red bricks used in its
construction. This octagonal structure was built in 1227 and
stands in all its magnificence even today. (It is
particularly impressive when illuminated at night.) Adjacent
to the tower are the dockyards where five vessels could be
worked on at a time. Next to the dockyards is a tower called
Tophane Kule (Arsenal Tower) where cannons were cast during
Ottoman times.
Nearby close to the seashore is a cave called Damlataþ. The
humid air inside this cave is supposed to be good for those
suffering from asthmatic problems. Alanya's archaeological
museum contains numerous interesting works and is well worth
a visit.
Owing to its výtal importance as a naval base, Alanya was
connected by roads that went east and west and into the
hinterland. (The Seljuk capital was up country in Konya.) To
ensure the comfort and safety of travelers the Seljuks built
numerous caravanserais along these roads. One of them,
Þarapsahan, can be seen on the road to Antalya and was built
in 1246. Another is Alarahan located nine kilometers off the
highway. Next to it is a citadel called Alara that the
Seljuks restored and used. On the road to Gazipasa are the
remains of ancient lotape.
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