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ANTALYA
Area : 20.815
km²
 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.
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.
 Taurus
Moutains With an elevation of at least 1000m, the Taurus
Mountains are quite cool even in the summer and the people of
Antalya and the nomadic Yoruk people spend their summers up
here. The primary highland villages are Bakirli, Feslegen, Yesil
Yayla and Saklikent.
MUSEUM,
HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL ITEMS
 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.
 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.
The City Walls : What remains today are a few bastions
inside the city as well as Hadrian's Gate and its towers, the
large tower facing the harbour and a few pieces of the harbour
walls. One of the walls surrounds the yacht harbour and the
other the city, almost like horseshoe. One of the remaining
towers in the Castle Gate Square is now used as a clock tower.
There are four gates in the city walls, which form entrances to
the city.
 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.
Old Houses of Antalya : With its hot summers and mild
winters, the houses in Antalya are designed to provide
protection not against the chill of winter but against the
merciless heat of summer. The stone overhangs and courtyards
help provide air circulation. The houses in Antalya can be
divided into three types based upon the design of the main hall,
which also serves as a storage area. The three types are I halls,
L halls and U halls. In the design of these houses, great
attention was paid to meeting the necessities of daily life,
while also providing harmony with nature and the environment.
 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.
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.
Ariassos : The ancient remains of Ariassos, around 50km
from Antalya, are located on a slope and contain baths and rock
tombs.
 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.
Limyra : Believed to have been in existence since the 5th
century, Limyra is still in existence despite a massive
earthquake in the mid 19th century although was emptied in the
7th and 9th centuries after the Arab invasions. The city, which
is 11km south, composes of three section; the acropolis, areas
of settlement, and necropolis.
Arycanda : Excavations of this city reveal that it
probably existed from the 5th century BC, and controlled much of
the Arycanda valley. Having survived a destructive earthquake in
240 AD, the city maintained its prominence until the 11th
century, and its most important structures still survive today.
 Demre
(Myra) : Demre was one of the most important cities of the
Lycian civilisation. 25km west of Finike and 48km east of Kas,
Demre was a place of settlement from the 5th century BC. The
city was deserted in 9 A.D after the invasions of the Arabs.
Rock tombs, theatres and the Church of St. Nicholas (said to be
the original Santa Claus) are the most interesting sites in the
town today.
Simena (Kale) : Receiving its beauty from its history,
sea and sun, Simena is accessible from Ucagiz. The submerged
city and the ancient remains at the opposite island of Kekova
island, make it a worthwhile trip. There are traces of Roman and
other civilisations in Simena, the history of which dates back
to Lycian civilisation. There is a small theatre carved into the
rock, and Roman city walls.
 MANAVGAT
- SİDE
Manavgat of Antalya city is a tourism center, where history and
nature are within eachother and all kinds of tourism activity
can be performed.
 SERİK
Antalya's province, Serik is including an important Pamfilya
city, Aspendos. Aspendos Theater, which had reached today
without corruption, and has perfect acoustic, is hosting
important artistic activities today.
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.
 History
Serik city, is founded in two places, one at Belkıs Village (Aspendos)
and other at "Sillion" (Koçhisar Hill), near to today's Yanköy,
of Bergama Kingdom on IInd century A. D. On 1817, due to being
settlement regions very distant, it was named as "Seyrek"
initially, and it is named as "Serik" on 1950.
Kekova : It is between Kaş-Demre. It is an ancient
submerged city 500 m far from the Üçağız Village in
Mediterranean.
 Patara
: It is on Kalkan-Fethiye road,nearly 10 km before Kalkan
and is located at the south.. The colorful ceramics in the
center of the city reveal that the history of the city reaches
back to 5 B.C. Besides its being the birth place of St. Nicholas,it
was one of the most important seaports during the times of
Alexander the Great. Three gated city walls,one of which leads
to Patara, was constructed by the governor Modestus in 110 . One
of the most important remnants is the theater currently buried
under the crystal clear sandy beaches of Patara.
 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.
KAŞ
 Kas
was one of the most important cities of Lycia, and is now a
small resort with great historical interest. Its quaint town
centre has a rocky waterfront, with good beaches nearby. There
are watersports available in the area, like canoeing,jet-skiing,
diving and paragliding, plus cavern diving, which uses technical
equipment to explore the deep and dark caverns. For those who
love travelling on the water, the Mavi Yolculuk (Blue Voyage)
tours, and other excursions on boats, can be madeto the
surrounding islands.
History
 Habesos
is the earliest known name of the ancient city, as proved from
archaeological findings. But the name Antiphellos is far more
familiar, and this was the harbour of ancient Phellos.
Excavations here have revealed a settlement dating back to
the4th century BC, possibly earlier, although it reached its
height of importance during the Roman and Byzantine periods,
when it was a centre for Bishops. It had also been significant
in the world of sea-faring commerce, and during the Roman era
wasespecially famous for its exported sponges. It was attacked
by Arabs, then added to the territory of the Anatolian Seljuks,
and took the name Andifli. After the destruction of the
Anatolian Seljuk state, the Ottomans added it to its lands. The
name Kas means ‘eyebrow’, or ‘something curved’,describing the
shape of the town under the backdrop of 500m high cliffs behind.
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