ALANYA IN THE HISTORY ALANYA CASTLE

The castle has a citadel of 6.5 km length, 140 towers, about 400 cisterns. Doors with inscriptions and as an open air museum reflects Seljukian art at its best, The castle was built by A. Keykubat, the Sultan of Seljukians. The ramparts start from Kızkule, extend down from Ehmedek, İçkale, Adam Atacağı, Cilvarda Burnu, Arap Evliyası Rampart and Esat Rampart and pass through Tophane and Tersane and end at Kızılkule at the starting point. The first construction of the castle dates to the Hellenistic Period, but in fact the construction took its fascinating and monumental form during the Seljukian Empire. The altitude of the part called “the Inner Castle” and located at the highest place of western corner of the peninsula is about 250 meters. It was surrounded by walls from four sides as it was the centre of administrative and military organisations. Two Seljukian period cisterns, made of bricksş are located in the middle part of the inner castle and are still in good condition at present. Main buildings in the inner castle were constructed so as to lean on the castle walls, except for the western part. Sultan Keykubat had his palace built here...The settlement in the castle continues also today. In front of wooden and stone made houses, silk and cotton are woven, different figured calabash trees are coloured, authentic food is served in little gardens. And restaurants and cafes are located on the sea side on the way to the castle. The castle road is open to vehicle traffic. You can also walk to it in about an hour.

KIZILKULE ( The Red Tower)

Located on the seaport,this grand building, erected in 1226 for military and dockyard control purposes, is one of unique monuments of the Seljukians, and is the symbol of Alanya with its octagonal figure. In 1226, The Sultan of the Seljukians, Alaaddin Keykubat, ordered the builder of the Sinop Castle craftsman Ebu Ali Reha el Kettani from Halep to build the tower. It was very difficult to carry the stone blocks to the top of the tower during construction, therefore the top was built of red bricks and accordingly was named Red Tower. Some walls of tower was made of ancient marble. The tower has octagonal planned towers of each 12.5 mt wide 33 mt high and a diameter of 29 m. It has 5 floors including the ground floor. The top can be reached by big stone stairs.The sunlight reaches from the top down to the first floor. There is a cistern in the middle of the tower. The tower was built against the attacks to the harbour and the dockyard and was used centuries for martial targets. After the repairs between 1951 and 1953, the first floor of the building functions as ethnographical museum.

EHMEDEK

It was rebuilt and began to be known as the "middle castle" during the Seljukian Era, replacing the little one on the northern Side of the citadel left by the Byzantine Empire. It's clear from the inscription on its front door that it was built in 1227. It's thought to have been named after the master builder "Ehmedek" of the Seljukian Era. The middle castle, consisting of two parts with three towers, is located on a strategically important place and at the same time it can protect the inner one where the Sultan's palace is. The walls of the towers we can see today were built during the Byzantine Era, by carving the rocks. The three cisterns in the middle castle are still used today. There are pictures of ships on the walls dating back to Seljukian period.

THE DOCKYARD

It began to be built in 1227 and finished in one year, near Kızılkule (red tower) six years later the Seljukian Sultan A.Keykubad conquered the city. The sea side of the dockyard with five arch parts has a lenght of 56.5 mt and is 44 mt deep. The dockyard is located on the most sunny place to take advantage of sunlight. The tablet in the entry of the dockyard carries the emblem of A.Keykubat and it is enriched with rosettes. Alanya’s dockyard is the first dockyard of the Seljukians on the Mediterranean Sea. Keykubat, who ordered to build the Sinop Dockyard, is named later as the “Sultan of the two seas.” In one part of the dockyard there is the small mosque, on the other side the room of the guards. In one of the archs there is dry well. Entrance is free to the dockyard which can be reached from the sea with boats or by walk.

DAMLATAŞ CAVE

It is a small cave with beautiful calcite formations, located right in the center of Alanya and one of the town's most popular attractions. It was discovered in 1948 quite by accident, it formed as semi-crystallized limestone from the Permian period of the Paleozoic Age was shaped by erosion over thousands of years. It is approximately 100 meters from the sea and the cave is under the sea level. There are many stalactites, stalagmites and columns decorating everywhere in the halls. Following the rumors that asthmatics benefited from breathing the air in the cave, scientists analyzed a sample of the air to verify the fact that the air was indeed beneficial to patients suffering from non-allergic asthma. They found that the air in the cave contains 10 to 12 times more carbon dioxide than normal air and has 90% to 100% humidity. Temperature in the cave is 22 C. Both the radioactivity and ionization in the cave may contribute to the benefits derived from breathing the air in the cave A large cavern with a size of 13 x 10m and a height of 15m is used for Speleotherapy.

MUSEUM OF ETHNOGRAPHY

Kızılkule, which is in the harbour and is a work of Seljukians of the 13th century, is at the same time the museum of ethnography. The ground floor and the first floor of the five-storey tower have been designed as museums. In the museum there are carpets, rugs, clothes, household goods, guns, scales, devices of illumination, and looms peculiar to Alanya and ethnographic works like the tent representing the Turkoman nomadic tribe culture in the Taurus Mountains. Sometimes that historical building welcomes cultural or art activities such as exhibitions of painting or classical music concerts. You can catch a view of the panoramic landscape of the eastern part of the city and the way of settlement on the historical peninsula at the top floor of the tower. Moreover, you can go to the walls from the tower and walk feeling history. You have to pay for a visit to Red Tower