 Antalya
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Because of the archaeological and natural riches of the area, Antalya is also known as the Turkish Riviera. The sun, sea, nature and history combine to form a very popular resort, highlighted by some of the cleanest beaches in the Mediterranean. The 630km shoreline of the province is liberally scattered with ancient cities, harbours, memorial tombs and beaches, secluded coves and lush forests, many of which are easily accessible from the city. |
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With its palm-lined boulevard, internationally-acclaimed marina, and old castle with traditional architecture, all set amidst a modern city, Antalya is a major tourist centre in Turkey. In addition to the wide selection of hotels, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and shops, the city also plays host to a number of sporting events throughout the year, like International Beach Volleyball, triathlon, golf tournaments, archery, tennis and canoeing competitions. The Cultural Centre, which opened in 1995, hosts cultural and art events in the fields of music, theatre, and creative arts. The main area of interest in the city is central old quarter within the Roman walls, known as Kaleici, and there are many good museums.
HOW TO GET
By Road : Antalya is easily accessed from most parts of the country, and the main bus station (Yeni Garaj) is 4km north of the city centre. Major routes include Istanbul (12 hours), Fethiye (8 hours), Izmir (9 hours) and Goreme (10 hours). The best route from Istanbul and Ankara is through Afyon and Burdur. In addition to the large buses and long-distance journeys, which leave from the Sehirlerarasi Terminali, there are also dolmus services to places like Kas, Alanya, Olympos and Side, from the Ilceler Terminali, although these are not air-conditioned. Most bus companies have a free shuttle service from the bus station into the city centre.
GEOGRAPHY
Antalya is dominated by two climates. The coastal area is typically Mediterranean with hot dry summers and mild rainy winters. The interior region has a transitional climate affected by Central Anatolia and the Mediterranean. In July and August, the temperature can reach 35 degrees, with minimal rainfall. Winters can get down to 4 degrees, and very rarely with it reach freezing point. The wettest months are December and January, with 250mm of rain per month. The average annual humidity is 61%.
WHERE TO EAT
The nomadic people living in the rural areas raise wheat and animals, and it is these products which form the basis of the local cuisine. Though limited in scope there are fresh vegetables grown along the coast but as one moves into the interior, wheat and other crops become more common. The primary dishes which make up the modern diet are kolle (boiled wheat, beans, chickpeas), sautéed meat with vegetables, tomato civesi, hibes, arapasi, tandir kebab and the local jellies.
WHAT TO BUY
In Antalya, there are shopping malls that will have anything the foreign or local tourist could hope to find. The city is famous for its jams and jellies made from every fruit and vegetable imaginable. The most interesting ones are the eggplant, watermelon, bergamot and turunc jellies. There are also souvenirs and gift items particular to Turkey in the shops of the Ministry of Tourism and the Ministry of Culture and the shops in the old city. The area is famous for its Dosemealti carpets coloured with natural root dyes.
DON'T LEAVE WITHOUT
- Visiting the Antalya Museum
- Walking up the gorge at Saklikent
- Seeing the ruins at Perge and Termessos
- Walking through Kaleici and the old houses of Antalya
- Taking pictures of the snowdrops in Akseki
- Buying a Dosemalti carpet
- Tasting the local jams and jellies
Don't return...
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Places Wich You Must See
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 Kekova&Simena
Kekova Island and the town of Kale nearby Antalya make an idyllic daytrip for the traveler looking for a combination of sunshine, swimming and fascinating historic ruins. Many operators run trips from Kas but the journey is much shorter from Çayagzi, the harbor of Demre. Along the stony coastline the boatman may stop at a cave, or point out the occasional goat or the smoldering pyramids of wood used by peasants to make charcoal, the product may sit in plastic sacks at the water's edge, waiting to be taken away.
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Great Theatre
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Aspendos
The ancient city, 48km east of Antalya, is most famous for its theatre, probably the best preserved in Asia Minor. It is still in use today, and stages the annual Aspendos Opera and Ballet Festival every summer. It was the scene of a huge bloody battle between the Persians and the Greeks in 469 BC, and then ruled by the Spartans 120 years later. The city became part of the Seleucid kingdom after the death of Alexander the Great, and then became part of the Roman province of Asia in 133 BC.
The famous theatre was built in the 2nd century AD, using a Roman design, and it is still intact. Ataturk was responsible for much of the restoration, who after visiting it declared that it should be used as a theatre rather than simply a museum.
In addition to the theatre, there is an acropolis on a hilltop, of which the nymphaeum and basilica are still fairly intact.
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The lion grave at Termessos
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Termessos
Situated on Mt. Solyhmos, some 20 miles northwest of Antalya, Termessos, located on a mountaintop in dense woodland, is one of the best-preserved archaeological sites in Turkey. According to ancient sources, in 334 BC, when Alexander the Great passed through the region he did not attack the city because of its impregnable location and made his way to Sagalassos. Among the remains are a gymnasium, a Hellenistic theater, an agora, and a necropolis with good examples of Pisidian sarcophagi and rock-cut tombs.
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Myra & Demre
135 km to Antalya) A couple of kilometers north of Demre, the ruins include a score of tombs arranged on the cliff in a jumble overlooking the sea. This ancient Lycian city Myra, many splendidly carved rock tombs overlooks the magnificent Greco-Romen theater - on the subject of unique Necropolis it was a Lycian custom to bury their dead high up because they believed in this way they were more easly transported to heaven. In Demre there is also a Church (3 km away from Myra) where St. Nicholas was the bishop of this Mediterranean city during the fourth century, and died here in 342. Every year in December the Santa Claus Commemoration Ceremony attracts many tourists who spend their Christmas holidays on the sunny coast of ancient Lycia.
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General View
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Olympos
75 km to Antalya) Near Kemer are the remains of ancient Olympos founded during the 3rd century B.C. and pirates'den before becoming a Roman Empire. The ancient city of Olympos is situated on the southern side of Mt. Tahtali. Oleander and laurel bushes shade the Olympos Valley, which you can approach by land and sea. The play of light on the quiet pools of water enhances the mosaics in the bath. A temple gate and theater also remain from antiquity. The outer walls and towers around the bay date from the Middle Ages. North of Olympos up from Cirali Beach, is Yanartas (at a height of 300 meters) where according to mythology the Lycian hero Bellerephon, mounted on his winged horse Pegasus slew the fire-breathing monster, Chimera. Gas, which seeps from the earth, burns brightly at night at this site, which the Byzantine also considered a religious area. Homer narrates in the IV book of the Illiad that it was the dwelling-place of Chimaera, the fire breathing monster, part lion, goat and serpent, which gave it its name.
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General View
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Side
65 Km from Antalya on the east.) One of the best-known classical sites in Turkey, was an ancient harbor whose name meant pomegranate. Today a pretty resort town, its ancient ruins, two sandy beaches, many shops and extensive tourist accommodation attract throngs of visitors. There are numerous cafes and restaurants with a view of the sea, and the shops that line the narrow streets sell typical Turkish handicrafts including leather goods and Turkey’s famous beautiful gold jewelry.
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Aquaduct
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Kemer
Kemer is 45 km far away from Antalya) Kemer, was the ancient city called (Idyros) and now a groving resort town with millions tourist who spends their Holidays on the region. Around Kemer there are some small touristic towns Beldibi, Goynuk, Camyuva, Tekirova. All those towns also has thousands beds for the tourists, very categoried Hotels from pansions to up Delux Hotels and Holiday Clubs. Kemer passes through Spectacular Mountain scenery. Research about Kemer does not give us more than a knowledge here was the city of Likya.
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Antalya Museum
Founded in 1922 by Süleyman Fikri Erten and housed first in the Alaaddin Mosque in the old city and then in the Yivli Minaret, the museum was later moved to its current location. The museum consists of 12 exhibit rooms and its gardens and open galleries. In these halls the history of Antalya is given in a chronological and instructive fashion starting with the first humans and continuing without interruption to the modern era.
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Kaleici
Today the historical old city of Antalya known as Kaleici (the inner castle) is surrounded by two walls, most of which have fallen down. The inner wall encloses the harbour in a semicircle. As a result of restoration, Kaleici has turned into a major tourist centre with guest-houses, bars, shops and restaurants, and the Roman harbour has been turned into a modern, well-equipped marina. As a result of the restoration work, the Ministry of Tourism was awarded the Golden Apple (Tourism Oscar) in April 1984 by FIJET.
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Hadrian's Gate
The only city gate to have survived until the present day is the most attractive of the Pamphylia: Uckapilar (Three Gates), also known as Hadrian's Gate, which is guarded by one tower on either side. Built to honour the emperor Hadrian's visit to the city in 130 AD, the whole gate, except for the columns, is made of pure white marble. The reliefs and carvings are extraordinary.
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Perge
Situated 18 km east of Antalya, Perge is in the city limits of Aksu Bucagi. Because of its location on the Cilicia - Pisidia road, it was a vital part of the province of Pamphylia, and was founded around the same time as the other cities in the area (7th century BC). It was an important city for Christians of Perge who had worshipped the mother goddess Artemis. St. Paul and Barnabas visited the city and wealthy benefactors like Magna Plancia had a number of important memorials built here.
The first excavations began in 1946 by Istanbul University and they resulted in many important discoveries: The theatre consists of three main sections: the seating, orchestra and stage. It held 12,000 spectators, with 19 rows of seats on the lower section, 23 on the top section, and a 52-metre stage.
The stadium measures 34 square metres, with 13 rows of seats on top of the vaults. The eastern and western sides have 30 vaults each and the northern side has 10. For every three vaults there is an entrance to the stadium, and the other two were used as shops.
The Agora was the commercial and political centre of the city, with shops surrounding the central courtyard, some of which have mosaics on the floor. The agora measured 76 square metres, with a circular structure in the centre with a diameter of 13.40 metres.
The colonnaded boulevard lies between the Hellenistic Gate and the nympheum on the slopes of the acropolis. On both sides of the street, 20 metres in width, are porticoes, some up to five meters high, behind which are shops. The street is divided into two by a 2-metre wide water canal running through the middle.
Other structures include the necropolis, city walls, gymnasium, Roman Baths, memorial fountain and the Greek and Roman gates.
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Termessos & Olympos
Termessos : The ruined city of Termessos, lying 34km west of Antalya in a rugged mountain valley, was founded by the Solymi people, from the interior of Anatolia. Among the important remains are the 4200-seat theatre and the Roman stele that Augustus had built at the beginning of the first century AD. The Odeon, the covered meeting hall, has seating for 600 people. The five inter-connecting underground cisterns were used for the storage of water and olive oil.
Other important remains include the Agora, with an open western side and other sides colonnaded; the heroic memorial of Hereon on top of a 6-metre high platform; the Corinthian-style temple, the Temple of Zeus, the Lesser and Greater Temples of Artemis, the gymnasium and the watch towers. In addition, there are more than 1200 rock tombs.
Olympos : Lying between Kemer and Adrasan is the ancient harbour village of Cirali, the ruins of Olympos and the site of the Chimaera. The history of Olympos dates back to the 2nd century BC when it was an important Lycian city, although it was empty by the 6th century. The Olympians worshipped Hephaestos (Vulcan) the god of fire, probably connected to the eternal flame, or Chimaera, which still emerges from the mountain. Known also as Yanartas (burning stone), the flame is caused by the burning of natural gas emerging from the mountain. Apart from the ruins, Olympos is well known for its simple treehouse camps, where most tourists stay, and a natural environment thanks to forests and vineyards near to a beautiful beach.
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Xanthos
Founded on the Xanthos river basin,Xanthos is the biggest and the most ancient city of Lycia. Having being remained independent till the invasions of the Persians in 4292 B.C,Xanthos tried hard to defend against the invasions;however, upon realizing the remote victory the people of Xanthos first murdered their women then commited suicide as a whole.Afterwards 80 family imigrating to the region refounded the city but approximately 100 years later the city was totally destroyed by a great fire. Reesatblished city thenceforth strengtened its connection with west and became an important center.Still the city can not be saved from misfortune. Upon resisting to the taxes of the Roman Brutus, the city was ruined and the people were dragged into war. And Xanthos became the city of catastrophe.
The city was founded around center of Lycia and outside it were the remnants of Roman city center. Roman theater and the findings at the west side of the theater still attracts the visitors. Harpy memorial on the rocks is one of the most important traces. Only the duplication of the work of art, the original of which is on exhibit in British Museum in England,can be seen in the region.
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Phaselis
On the coast, 60km south of Antalya, Phaselis was founded by the Rhodians in the 7th century BC, and was known as the most important seaport in Eastern Lycia. On the west of the city is Hadrian's Gate, with shops and baths on either side. The city is accessible both by road and sea.
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Karain Cavern
Location: Antalya
The cave is found inside the borders of Yağca Village which is at 5 - 6 km. distance to the old Antalya - Burdur highway, 30 km northwest of Antalya.
Properties: The Karain cave which is one of the greatest natural caves of Turkey, is 150 m high from the travertine valley in front, ve430-450 m. high from the sea.
The cave stands in the period of the beginning of the history of the mankind, as the cavern was continuously accommodated by early humans during the prehistoric and classic periods starting from lower Paleolithic, medium and high Paleolithic, Neolithic, Calcolithic and Ancient Bronze stages. As a natural result of this, the cavern contains a thick cultural layer which can be 11 meters. But the longest and most important accommodation period of the cave is relevant with the Paleolithic period.
The usage at the classical period is more likely as an Offering Cave(Temple) and there are Greek inscriptions and niches at the cave exterior walls and ceiling. The archeological findings discovered from the archeological excavations done inside Karain Cave are displayed at the Antalya Museum and at the Karain Museum which is just near the cave.
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Resort Pictures |
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General View
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General View
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Aspendos
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Dolma
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