Antalya - Sightseeing

The ethnologically-oriented museum is located in two beautifully restored Ottoman Konaks (wooden villas)... in the historic district of Antalya and in an abandoned Greek church (Aya Yorgi). It was paid for by the Koç familiy, a wealthy industrial family, who had renovated the mansion of a rich Aga (landowner). Historic pictures of the old Antalya as well as an exhibition of antique pottery can be seen here. Music and life-size sculptures illustrate the 18th and 19th century lifestyle. more

The Düden is one of the many rivers of the Taurus, which empties into the ocean in Antalya. The ancient... Greeks called it the Katharraktes, deriving from the word for "to cascade". Indeed, the Düden does form two distinctive waterfalls. The lower one, the Aşagı Düden Şelalesi, close to the Lara Beach in the east, is 160 ft (50 m) high. Boat outings start at the harbor. During these tours you can see that the calcareous river built the entire travertine litosphere in Antalya through the precipitation of its drop level. The upper waterfall, the Yukarı Düden Şelalesi, is 7 mi (11 km) north of the center and has its own picnic spot. Here the waterfall is 30 ft (10 m) high; behind it lies a cave system one can walk through. more

Most parts of Antalya's ancient medieval city wall are still well-preserved. Evliya Çelebi, who had... left behind a famous travel report on the Ottoman Empire in 1671, wrote that it had 80 towers and was 4,400 steps long. The old main entrance from the times of the Turkish Great Seljuk Empire was located north along the Cumhuriyet Caddesi, the clock tower (Sanat Kulesi) being one of its last remains. The Hadrianus Gate (Hadrianus Kapisi) was built as a tirumphal arch in 13 BC to honor the visit of the emperor Hadrianus. The three vaulted passages were decorated with sculpted marble tops and friezes. A statue of the emperor probably used to stand on top of it. The gate is so well preserved because it was walled during the Middle Ages. You can still see the the ruts of the Roman wagons on the paving tiles6 ft (2 m) below the current ground level. more

The Yivli Minare, a minaret made of bricks, is 124 ft (38 m) high and the town's landmark. The name "grooved... minaret" comes from its unusual shape with eight supporting half-columns. It was built during the reign of the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat around 1220, probably as a victory tower honoring his father Izzedin Keyhüsrev, who had taken over Antalya from the Byzantines for the first time. A Seljuk Islamic school stood in front of the Yivli Minare, which has been constructed anew as a steel framework hall. The Ulu Cami (great mosque) behind the minaret was induced by Hamide-Emir Mehmet Bey in 1373 as the major mosque of the city. Above the mosque lies the Mevlevihane, a former convent of the dancing dervishes, nowadays often hosting exhibitions. The big octagonal Mehmet Bey Türbesi is the tomb of Emir Mehmet Bey, who up to this day is worshiped by the peasants as a saint. more

The mosque built in the typical Ottoman style in the little gardens north of the historic district was... donated by Kuyucu Murat Pasa in 1570. A wide dome vaults the prayer room. Long calligraphies on the inside below Seljuk scenes praise Allah and the Prophet. It is considered to be one of the prettiest calligraphies of the late Seljuk era. Back then, Murat Paşa, the governor of the Sultan, made a name for himself by bloodily defeating the Jelali revolts the Turkish Kızılbaş nomads had initiated gaining his nickname “the fountain digger” (because of the many mass graves for the executed). Between 1609 and 1611 he became the Grand Vizier of the Sultan Ahmet the First. The mosque was restored in 1960 and can also be visited from the inside. more

The stump of a minaret in the middle of the historic district of the town is called Kesik Minare, meaning... “cut-off minaret”. Right next to it lie the remains of a Byzantine basilica. In 1467, the minaret was built with a wooden spear by Şehzade Korkut Bey, the son of Sultan Beyazid the Second and his mistress Nigar Hatun. This turned the biggest Early Christian basilica church of Antalya into a mosque called Korkut Camii or Cami-i-Kebir, meaning big mosque. After this part burned out in the 19th century, the upper part of the minaret also collapsed, which is why the people call it the "cut-off mosque". Originally, the construction was a Roman seraphic temple from the 2nd century turned into a church in the 5th century. In the longhouse area you can still see how the antique pillars were nogged up to the arcades. more

The big Kara Alioğlu Parkı sprawls south of the historic district of Antalya. Promenade paths lead... the way through the lush subtropical vegetation, featuring fountains and numerous shadowy places. Because of its tea houses and the beautiful view over the ocean, this garden paradise is a popular meeting point among the people of Antalya. Located at its northern end is the Hıdırlık Kulesi, a tower with a square floor on the bottom and round top floor from the 2nd century. During Roman times, it was probably a lighthouse, later it became a cannon platform to protect the harbor of Antalya. more

The mosque next to the clock tower was built in the 17th century during the reign of the Beylerbey ("boss... of all bosses", leading provincial governor) Tekeli Mehmet Paşa in the typical Ottoman style. During the entire Ottoman era the Tekeli family controlled the region from Antalya up to Burdur. Their residence, the Tekili Konaklan was lavishly restored in the year 2000 and is now a hotel, which houses the open-air disco Ally. The mosque has a lead-covered dome and a high minaret. The Arabic inscriptions on the turquoise tiles on the bend above the windows are especially pretty. While it was built, it replaced the Ulu Cami next to the Yivli Minare as the main mosque of the city. more

The museum worth seeing is located a little outside close to the Konyaalti Beach and is easy to reach... by tram. It shows modernly presented findings from all important ancient Turkish cultures as well as ethnographic arts and crafts collections of the nomadic tribes. It starts out with bifaces of the Neanderthal settlements of Karain and the urn graves of the Bronze Age from Semahöyük near Elmali. The gallery of gods in Perge belongs to the most precious pieces in Turkey - humongous marble statues of the Olympic gods as well as statues of Roman emperors. Antique coins and the treasure of Kumluca with an Early Christian liturgy device are other extraordinary, precious objects. Finally, the museum preserves images of the saints from the Greek churches of Antalya who had to leave their home in 1923. more

This nondescript mosque in the quiet part of the old city offers an unusual scenery. There is no dome,... a wooden gallery can be found along the side wall running next to the wall, colorful glass decorates the windows. The mosque was built in 1834 originally a church of the back then very large Greek community of Antalya. Already during the pogroms of 1922 before the Greeks were finally expelled by the contracts of Lausanne in 1923, the church was turned into a mosque. The minaret was added in 1937. Slim pillars with Byzantine capitals underpin the wooden roof on the inside. The outer gallery is connected to an gallery on the inside. Turkish additions are the Mimber (pulpit) and the Kible (niche pointing to Mecca). more

The new haven in Antalya, south of Kemer, was opened in 1973. It was privatized in 1998 and expanded... with a marina. Today it is the biggest haven in Turkey between İzmir and Mersin. Big container ships as well as cruise liners on a Mediterranean cruise anchor at this port. The biggest breakwater is 4,700 ft (1,440 m), the biggest anchorage is 660 ft (200 m) long. The Çelebi Marina (changed its name from Setur Marina in 2006) was restored by 2009 and is now the biggest berth for ships on the southern coast, especially attractive because of its proximity to the Antalya airport. more