Turkey - Antalya

Antalya

Antalya is a Turkish resort city with a yacht-filled Old Harbor and beaches flanked by large hotels. It's a gateway to Turkey's southern Mediterranean region, known as the Turquoise Coast for its blue waters. Remnants remain from Antalya's time as a major Roman port. These include Hadrian’s Gate, built to honor the Roman emperor’s visit in 130 A.D and 2nd-century Hidirlik Tower, with harbour views.

Today it is one of the world's best-loved tourist resorts, with numerous five-star hotels, holiday villages and entertainment establishments. Besides the chances Antalya offers for skiing on the mountains and then descending to the shore for a swim, the proximity of a great number of archaeological sites and ruins enhances its appeal. There are great works of art from different civilizations at every corner of the city. In the picturesque old quarter of Kaleiçi, narrow, winding streets and old wooden houses about the ancient city walls. When Emperor Hadrian visited Phacelias in Antalya in 130 AD, a beautifully-decorated three arched gate with Corinthian columns was built into the city walls in his honour. It was the only entrance through the city walls. The two towers flanking the gate, as well as other sections of the walls, are standing near the marina. The clock tower in Kalekapısı Square was also part of the old city’s towers. The elegant, fluted minaret of the Yivli Minaret Mosque at the centre of the city, built by the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat in the 13th century, has become Antalya’s symbol. The Karatay Madrasah in the Kaleiçi district, from the same period, exemplifies the best of Seljuk stone carving.

Things to do

Kaleiçi

The Old Town is a great place to explore independent art galleries and boutiques among monumental structures that survived from the Ottoman, Byzantine, and even Roman empires. Antalya's historic district is a sight in itself and you could happily spend an hour or so strolling the narrow lanes here while admiring the mix of finely restored and creakily dilapidated Ottoman-era architecture.

Old Harbor

To Kaleiçi's south lies an ancient Roman harbor dating back to the second century BC. It was used for trade up until the 20th century, and is still a popular yachting marina!

Termessos

Termessos was a Pisidian city built at an altitude of more than 1000 metres at the south-west side of the mountain Solymos in the Taurus Mountains. It lies 30 kilometres to the north-west of Antalya. Termessos isn't only one of Turkey's best-preserved ancient cities. At the top of Mount Güllük, it offers an array of rare plant and animal species, as well as spectacular views

Perga

Another impressive ancient site in the Antalya province is the capital of former Pamphylia. Book a day-trip to explore its Agora, Nymphaeum, Roman theatre, and many other ruins. Perga or Perge was an ancient Anatolian city, once the capital of Pamphylia Secunda, now in Antalya province on the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Today, it is a large site of ancient ruins 15 kilometres east of Antalya on the coastal plain. An acropolis located there dates back to the Bronze Age

Düden Waterfalls

Unlike most rivers, the waters of the Düden empty into the Mediterranean by cascading over Antalya's coastal cliffs. It's one of the region's most unmissable natural sight. Düden Waterfalls are a group of waterfalls in the province of Antalya, Turkey. The waterfalls, formed by the recycle station water, are located 12 kilometres north-east of Antalya. They end where the waters of the Lower Düden Falls drop off a rocky cliff directly into the Mediterranean Sea

Cappadocia

Another natural wonder within reach is the sun-scorched Cappadocia, renowned for its extraordinary fairy-chimney rock formations! Cappadocia, a semi-arid region in central Turkey, is known for its distinctive “fairy chimneys,” tall, cone-shaped rock formations clustered in Monks Valley, Göreme and elsewhere. Other notables sites include Bronze Age homes carved into valley walls by troglodytes (cave dwellers) and later used as refuges by early Christians. The 100m-deep Ihlara Canyon houses numerous rock-face churches.

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