About Antalya
Kaleici itself is a maze of narrow passages. In the seventh century about 3000 houses were jammed into this area within the old city walls. Today fine examples of Ottoman architecture remain; many of the houses have been (or are in the process of being) restored, some to become lovely small hotels, bars, and restaurants.
YACHT HARBOUR; It used to serve as the second port of Turkey in Mediterranean sea, but now provides facilities for the yachts only.
THE GROOVED MİNARET
It was constructed by Balaban Tavçı in 1372. It may be seen that the architect have employed, among other elements, antique remains in the construction.
The walls of Kaleiçi was declared to be a preservation site by Ministry of Culture in 1973, and they were restored by Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 1984.
It is at a distance of 100 m from our hotel.
HADRİANUS GATE, New buildings are constructed inside the Kaleiçi Region, which experienced its peak times in Rome times. The city was enlarged, and in 130 A.D., the Hadrianus Gate was constructed in memory of the Rome Emperor Hadrianus’ visit to the city, and the east walls of the city was reconstructed.
It is at a distance of 150 m from our hotel
THE CUT MİNARET, It is a unique remains showing antique features of architecture of Byzantine and Seljuk.
ANTALYA (Kaleiçi), is a city located around a small bay. Its streets are raised like theater seats, step by step. It is surrounded by city walls completely. Trees in the gardens are full of fruits. City walls runs towards to the sea, after enclosing the settlement area. Just imagine the beauty and color richness of the gardens of the houses, mosques, boats in the harbor, and caiques. Morning fogs over the sea gets mixed with water tracks of sailing boats, thus providing unmatched inspirations to the viewers.
An attractive mosque of the late 19th century, the İSKELE MOSQUE, is constructed of cut stone and set on four pillars over a natural spring.
GEOGRAPHY
The Antalya Region, offering all the mysticism of past in our day, is now called the “Turkish Riviera” due to its archaeological and natural beauties. Antalya is the place where sea, sun, history and nature constitute a perfect harmony and which also includes the most beautiful and clearest coast along the Medditerranean. In ancient times it covered all Pamphylia which means “the land of all tribes”.
The climate of the province is typical Medditerranean: hot and dry in summers and temperate and rainy in winters. Sunshine is guaranteed from April to October and the winters are pleasantly mild. The humidity is a little bit high, about 64%, and the average water temperature is 21.5 °C. Antalya is really a heavenly place where the summer season is about 8-9 months long.
HİSTORY
TERMESSOS; In the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, is located on a natural plateau flanked by two mountains at 1040 meters above from the sea level. It is one of the best preserved archaeological sites in south Turkey and the During the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C., Termessos was at the peak of its glory and boasted as many as 150,000 inhabitans; most of its buildings also date back to this period. Later on, it was severely damaged by an eartquake and gradually become less populated until it was completed deserted in the 7th century A.D. Of all the ruins, the most impressive by far is the Theatre; hewn out of the rock, it offers a view as far as Antalya. An outstanding feature of Termessos remains the large number of tombs, all around the slopes to the east, west and south. At the foot of Mt.Tahtali (Olympos),15 km south of Kemer, the three harbors of PHASELİS were once a major commercial center. The ruins of aqueducts, agoras, baths, a theater, Hadrian’s Gate and an acropolis reveal the city’s historical importance. From the south harbor, look up at Mt. Tahtali for a spectacular view. The sheltered sandy beaches make a superb playground, and the waters are calm and safe for swimmers.
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 enhance 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 Bellerophon, mounted on his winged horse Pegasus, slew the fire-breathing monster, Chimaera. Gas which seeps from the earth burns brightly at night at this site, which the Byzantines also considered a religious area. SİDE is one of the best-known classical sites in Turkey. This was an ancient harbour whose name meant �pomegranate�. Today, it is a pretty resort toqn, very popular because of its ancient ruins, two sandy beaches, a variety of shops and plentiful tourist accommodation. There are numerous cafes and restaurats with a view of the sea, and the narrow streets are lined with shops selling typical Turkich handicrafts including handmade leather and magnificent gold jewellery. The magnificent theatre of the ancient city, built on colonnaded arches, is the largest in the whole area. Next to the theatre is an agora (Closed for restoration). The creamy-white columns of the Apollo Temple make a striking contrast against the blue sea. The extensive Roman bath, now a museum, houses one of Turkey�s finest archaeological collections.
ARİASSOS was founded in a narrow rocky valley in the Taurus mountains to the north-west of Antalya. The earliest known coinage of Ariassos dates to the first century B.C. ; these coins have the head of Zeus on the obverse and on the reverse, a humped bull. Strabo mentions the city, calling it Aarrossas; it is known in other sources as Areassos and Ariassos. Apart from a few ruined Hellenistic period walls, all the remains date to the Roman and Byzantine eras. The best preserved structure is the city gate, which takes the shape of a tri-partite triumphal arch, with the central arch higher and wider than the side arches. The arches spring off stone socles.
PERGE, is the best example of a complete Roman city in the Pamphylian plain. It developed from a Hellenistic hilltop settlement to a proper Roman city.
SELGE, a Mountain City of Psidia, is located at about 950 m above sea level. The best preserved structure is its theater. Other visiting sites are City Walls, Towers, Water Cisterns, Stadium and Nekrepol.
ALANYA CASTLE; It takes 45 minute walk to climb up the castle. Don�t miss to see Arap Evliyası which was built as a church in the 11th century and then converted into a mosque; the Süleymaniye Mosque, the Bedesten (market place) beside the mosque, resored and now used as a restaurant,bar and hotel, Ehmendek where the commander of the castle resided, little houses of Alanya remaining from the Seljuks and the Ottomans, Akşebe Sultan Masjid and Tomb.
NATURE
The mountains of the TOROS (Taurus) Range is up immediately behind the coast, the whole length – from Konyaaltı Beach to the Kırlangıç Peninsula – is a national preserve, the BEY MOUNTAINS (Olympos) National Park.
Lycia, which is situated between Antalya and Fethiye, is famous not only for its historic and tourist values, but also with ‘BEY MOUNTAINS’ that covers the whole area and consists of 4 groups of mountains, namely; TAHTALI MOUNTAIN with KIZLARSIVRISI reaching 3070 meters, CUPPER MOUNTAIN, Central Beydaglari and south-west Beydaglari.
BEY MOUNTAINS Olympos National Park, expanding up to 60 kms is a very good place for wild life and all kinds of birds.
You can walk behind the cascade, a thrilling experience; at the Upper DÜDEN WATERFALL, l4 km northeast of Antalya. On the way to Lara Beach, the Lower DÜDEN WATERFALLS plunge straight into the sea.
The Manavgat waterfall is one of the best known waterfalls in Turkey. It is located on the Oymapinar dam road 3 km from the town of MANAVGAT WATERFALL 75 km west of Antalya. The water falls from a platform 2 m in height and since the construction of the Oymapinar dam, there has been a regular flow.
The nearby rest area offers an excellent view of the falls and the view is even more spectacular from the sea. KURSUNLU WATERFALL and Nilufer Lake, both 18 km from Antalya, are two more places of superb natural beauty.
At the foot of the gorge lies the renowned and perhaps most beautiful cave system in the country, ALTINBESIK CAVE. This is a huge cave by any standard.
DAMLATAŞ CAVE which lies to the west of the peninsula. The Damlataş beach is also named after this cave.
Adorned with alluring stalactites and stalagmites of various colours, the cave has a constant temperature of 22-23 degrees Celsius. It is said that the atmosphere of the cave has a healing effect on asthma except the allergic type and rheumatism with a humidity of 90-100 % and very high rate of carbon containing some radioactivity.
The KARAİN CAVE, which dates from the Paleolithic Age, is the site of the oldest settlement in Turkey. A single entrance, lit by the morning sun, opens onto three large interconnecting chambers. Although the little museum at the entrance displays some of the finds, most of the artifacts are housed in various museums throughout Turkey. Some of them are dated at 160,000 BC.
SAKLIKENT; 50 km from Antalya, is an ideal winter sports resort on the northern slopes of Bakirli Mountain at an altitude of 1,750 to 1,900 meters. In March and April you can ski in the morning, eat a delicious lunch of fresh fish at Antalya’s marina and sunbathe, swim or wind surf in the afternoon.
CULTURTE
ANTALYA MUSEUM
A prize winning museum and one of the most notable archaeology museums, of the world. It is also the only museum in Turkey with a children’s department exhibiting ancient monuments appealing to children.
ANTALYA STATE OPERA and BALET, has tramendious contribution to the Antalya cultural life since 1999. The SUNA-İNAN KIRAÇ RESEARCH INSTİTUTE on Mediterranean Civilizations, within the Vehbi Koç Foundation, is an international establishment chartered to serve the word of history, culture, and art; to encourage and support researches to investigate, document, protect, and restore the historical, archaeological, ethnographical and cultural values of Antalya and its surrounding; and to elucidate the region�s deep-rooted relations with the Mediterranean region.
AKM, Atatürk Culturel Center is the heart of cultural activities of the city, where you can find bestsamples of national and international performances of different art programmes. The building of AKM is owened by Municipality and the programmes are part of ‘Golden Orange Cultural and Art Foundation’ activities.
GOLDEN ORANGE CULTURE and ART FOUNDATİON organises film fast, symposium, seminer, panel, concert and shares its reach documantations and archive with all city dweller.
Its performances mainly held at Atatürk Cultural Center, Cam Piramit (Fair and congress Center) and Cultur Park.
FOODS
Antalya Kitchen is based on the local vegetables like every other part of the world. Citrus friuts, banana, sesame, groundnut, soybean, tomato, cucember, green pepper, bean, marrow, aubergine are the most commen vegetables growed in Antalya. Besides, olive trees can also be found here. Due to its warm climate Antalya local food is generally composed of fresh vegetables and fruits.
