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Alanya is a touristic center on
Turkey's Mediterranean coast 135
kilometers east of Alanya.
Excavations have shown that the
Alanya area was inhabited as
early as prehistoric times.
Antalya first appears in the 2nd
century B.C. as a pirate lair
and it was known then as
Korakesion. The Romans later
captured the town in their
campaign to suppress piracy in
the eastern Mediterranean. It
came under Byzantine rule after
395.
In 1220 the Seljuk sultan
Alaeddin Keykubad I took the
city and had the great castle
and dockyards built. Known then
as Alaiye, a name derived from
that of the sultan, the city was
used by the Seljuks as their
naval base in the Mediterranean
and it remained an important
military post in Ottoman times.
A century later the Arab
traveler Ibn Battuta visited
Alanya and described it thus:
The city of Alaiye is a large
town on the seacoast. It is
inhabited by Turtkomans and is
visited by the merchants of
Cairo, Alexandria, and Syria.
The district is f well-wooded
and wood is exported from there
to Alexandria and Damietta,
whence it is carried to the
other cities of Egypt. There is
a magnificent and formidable
citadel, built by Sultan
Alaeddin at the upper end of the
town.
The "magnificent and formidable
citadel" was built by Alaeddin
Keykubad I in 1226 on the site
of an earlier fortress. (Strabo
refers to one being here in
Roman times.) It consists of
three sections: an inner keep,
the central castle, and an
external redoubt.
The inner keep contains
cisterns, the ruins of a Seljuk
palace, a fresco-decorated
courtyard, military
fortifications, and a Byzantine
chapel in the middle. At the
northwestern corner is a place
where prisoners condemned to
death were hurled over the
precipice by means of catapults.
The central castle contains a
masjid built in 1230 by Akþebe
Sultan as well as her tomb.
Suleymaniye Mosque was
originally constructed in 1231
but was rebuilt during the reign
of Suleyman the Magnificent when
an Ottoman arasta (row of shops)
was added. There is also a 17th
century Ottoman khan.
Located on the outer walls of
the castle is Kizil Kule (Red
Tower), so called because of the
red bricks used in its
construction. This octagonal
structure was built in 1227 and
stands in all its magnificence
even today. (It is particularly
impressive when illuminated at
night.) Adjacent to the tower
are the dockyards where five
vessels could be worked on at a
time. Next to the dockyards is a
tower called Tophane Kule
(Arsenal Tower) where cannons
were cast during Ottoman times.
Nearby close to the seashore is
a cave called Damlataþ. The
humid air inside this cave is
supposed to be good for those
suffering from asthmatic
problems. Alanya's
archaeological museum contains
numerous interesting works and
is well worth a visit.
Owing to its výtal importance as
a naval base, Alanya was
connected by roads that went
east and west and into the
hinterland. (The Seljuk capital
was up country in Konya.) To
ensure the comfort and safety of
travelers the Seljuks built
numerous caravanserais along
these roads. One of them,
Þarapsahan, can be seen on the
road to Antalya and was built in
1246. Another is Alarahan
located nine kilometers off the
highway. Next to it is a citadel
called Alara that the Seljuks
restored and used. On the road
to Gazipaþa are the remains of
ancient lotape. |
