|
|
Around Alanya
| When the nature dealt out beauties,
Alanya has gotton its share extremely.Alanya is one of
the most beautiful coasts of the Mediterranean sea.The
kilometres long beach is generally sandy. İn many
places is sand so fine it doesn't stick on body... Just
after The Mediterranean sea which turns to blue-turquoise
color near to Alanya,rise the West-Taures mountains.
The Taurus Mountains create a quite different world with
its pine and cedar trees, its streaming rivers from the
top and its valleys.When the oranges blossom, whole the
city smells like musk: whole year colorful flowers adorn
paths, relaxes your eyes and spirit.You can find caves
in Alanya eigther in land or in sea; they are fascinating,
mystical and healing...And sun is living...Alanya is
the place where the sun smiles to you. |
THE
CITADEL OF ALANYA
The castle has a castle wall of 6.5 km length, 140 towers,
about 400 cisterns, doors with inscriptions and as an
open air museum reflects Seljuk art at its best, showing
the fascination of Seljuk art. The castle was built by
A. Keykubat, the Sultan of Seljuk. The ramparts start
from Kızkule, extend down from Ehmedek, İçkale,
Adam Atacağı, Cilvarda Burnu, Arap Evliyası Rampart
and Esat Rampart and pass through Tophane and Tersane
and end at Kızılkule at the starting point.
The first construction the castle dates from the Hellenistic
Period, but in fact the construction took its fascinating
and monumental form during the Seljuk Empire. The altitude
of the part called the inner castle and located at the
highest place of western corner of the peninsula is about
250 meters. It was surrounded by walls from four sides
as it was the centre of administrative and military organisation.
Two Seljuk period cisterns made of bricks located in
the middle part of the inner castle are still in good
condition at present. Main buildings in the inner castle
were constructed so as to lean on the castle walls, except
for the western part. Sultan Keykubat has been built
his palace here...The settlement in the castle continues
also today. İn front of wooden and stone made houses,
silk and cotton are woven, different figured calabash
trees are coloured,otantic food has been served in little
gardens. Further, on the road to the castle restaurant
and cafes are located on the sea side. The castle road
is open to vehicle traffic. You can also walk to it in
circa one hour.. |
|
KIZILKULE (The
Red Tower)
Located on the seaport. This grand building erected in
1226 for military and dockyard control purposes is one
of unique monuments of the Seljuks, and is the symbol
of Alanya with its octagonal figure. İn 1226, The
Sultan of the Seljuk’s, Alaaddin Keykubat, ordered
the builder of the Sinop Castle craftsman Ebu Ali Reha
el Kettani from Halep to build the tower. İt was
very difficult to carry the stone blocks to the top of
the tower during construction, therefore the top was
built of red bricks and accordingly was named Red Tower.
Some walls of tower was made of ancient marble. The tower
has octagonal planned towers of each 12.5 mt wide 33
mt height and a diameter of 29. İt’s has 5
floors including the ground floor. The top can be reached
by big stone stairs.The sunlight reaches from the top
to the first floor. There is a cistern in the middle
of the tower. The tower was built against the attacks
to the harbour and the dockyard and was used centuries
for martial targets. After repairs between 1951 and 1953,
the first floor of the building functions as ethnography
museum. |
|
THE DOCKYARD
İt began to be built in 1227 and finished in one
year, near Kızılkule (red tower) six years
later after the Seljuk’s Sultan A.Keykubad controlled
the city. The sea side of the dockyard with five arch
parts has a lenght of 56.5 mt and 44 mt deep.The dockyard
is located on the most sunny place to take advantage
of sunlight. The tablet in the entry of the dockyard
carries the emblem of A.Keykubat and it is enriched with
rosettes.Alanya’s dockyard is the first dockyard
of the Seljuk’s on the Mediterranean Sea. Keykubat
who ordered to build the Sinop Dockyard, named later
as the “Sultan of the two seas.” In one part
of the dockyard is the small mosque, on the other side
the room of the guards. İn one of the archs is a
well dried in course of time. entry is free to the dockyard
which can be reached from the sea with boats or by walk. |
|
THE GUN HOUSE
There's a gun house next to the dockyard. It was built
with the aim of defence on a rock ten meters above
the sea level. It's also known that cannons for battleships
were made in the three-storey and rectangular building
made of stone blocks and constructed in 1277.
There have been some efforts made by the Ministry of
culture and the Municipality of Alanya to make the Dockyard
and the Gun House naval museums. |
|
EHMEDEK
It was rebuilt and began to be known as the "middle castle" during
the Selcuks' Era, replacing the little one on the northern
Side of the citadel left by the Byzantine Empire. It's
clear from the inscription on its front door that it
was built in 1227. It's thought to have been named after
the master builder "Ehmedek" of the Selcuks' Era. The
middle castle consisting of two parts with three towers
is located on a strategically important place and at
the same time it can protect the inner one where the
Sultan's palace is. The walls of the towers we can see
today were built during the Byzantine Era, carving rocks.
The three cisterns in the middle castle are still used
today. There are pictures of ships on the walls dating
back to Selcuks' period. |
|
THE SULEYMANİYE
MOSQUE
It was built just outside İçkale on the top
of the castle in 1231 when the city was being reconstructed
by Alaaddin Keykubat, the Sultan of Selcuks. However
the mosque was not in good condition in the following
years and it was rebuilt by Kanuni Sultan Süleyman
in the 16th century during the Ottoman Era.. The mosque
with a single minaret is known as Alaaddin, Kale or Sülaymaniye.
The building is made of rubble stones and it is square
in shape.
It has a brick dome based on an octagonal frame. Fifteen
little earthenware jars were placed in the part functioning
as the hanger of the dome in order to ensure its acoustics.
That quality is felt during religious practice, The final
public place is found below three brick domes on a four-foot
basis. The covers of doors and windows are fine examples
of wood carving of the Ottoman. |
|
BEDESTEN
It's in the citadel, near The Süleymaniye Mosque.
It's thought to have been be built in the 14th or the
15th century during the Karamanoğulları period
as a bazaar or an inn. It's a rectangular building made
of stone blocks. It has 26 rooms and a courtyard that
is 35 metres long and 13 metres wide. Today this historical
building is used as a hotel, a restaurant and a cafe.
The shops of the medieval times, overlooking the courtyard
are now redesigned as hotel rooms. There's a big cistern
at the end of the stairs in the garden. The garden overlooks
the above walls on one side, and the Taurus Mountains,
the Mediterranean and the beach on the other side. Bedesten
can be visited with the permission of the person who
runs it. |
|
THE MINTING HOUSE
They are the buildings on Cilvarda Bay that has bluffs,
nearly 400 meters long and they are at the end of the
peninsula. Although known as "the Minting House" in
public, those buildings made of stone blocks have never
been used for issuing money.
One of the stone buildings of the 11th century is a little
church and the others were possibly used as monasteries.
The dome of the little church has remained standing.
There's a cistern on the rocks. Although there's a passage
of steps carved in the rocks from İçkale
to Cilvarda Bay, it can't be used today. As for sea transport
it is difficult and dangerous.
It looks magnificent both when looked at from İçkale
and while turning the bend of the bay by boat. |
|
THE SMALL MOSQUE
OF AKBESHE SULTAN
It's in the citadel northwards of Bedesten and nearly
100 metres past Süleymaniye Mosque.
It was built in 1230 by Akbeşe Sultan, the first
commander of Alaaddin Keykubat in the citadel of Alanya.
Its outer part is of stones blocks and the inner side,
also the dome are of bricks. It has a square shape and
two rooms. One of the rooms is a small mosque and in
the other one there is the tomb of Akbeşe Sultan.
There are three other tombs in the room. It's clear that
the apse of the small mosque is decorated with painted
files. The inscription there means:
"God Knows the secrets of earth and heavens. Small mosques
of God are only built by those who believe in Him and
in doomsday. It was built in 1230 when the great Sultan
Alaaddin Keykubat reigned, by poor Akbeşe, who needed
God's compassion."
There's a cylindrical minaret made of bricks in body
on the base of rubble stones, a few metres far from the
small mosque. |
|
THE ANDIZLI MOSQUE
It's in Tophone district. The mosque named so because
of a tree called elecampane nearby was built in 1277
by Emir Bedrüddin. It has some characteristics
peculiar to the architecture of the Selcuks period.
It's made of stone blocks and has a minaret which is
not high. Its pulpit is one of the finest examples
of Selcuks art of carving wood. You can go to the mosque
through the door below, near Kızılkule.minaret
that ends with a balcony has an interesting look. |
|
THE TOMB OF SITTI
ZEYNEP
It's on a rock on the way to the citadel. It's thought
to be of the Selcuks or Ottoman period. It is square
in shape and consists of two rooms., there is a long
sarcophagus and the other room is empty. Evliya Çelebi
wrote that the building was a lodge of Bektaşi Dervishes,
we have no certain information about Sitti Zeynep. The
name of the pious foundation of the tomb was Sitti Zeynep
Gin't Zeynül Abidin" in that foundation's records
of the Ottoman Empire during Kanuni Sultan Süleyman
period.
The person who had a tomb there is thought to have been
an enlightened mystic.
Three tombs, two meters long each, were carved in the
rock where the tomb is situated in the antique era. Antique
tombs were once used as water tanks.. |
|
HIDIRELLEZ CHURCH
It is within the boundaries of Hacı Mehmetli Village
in Hıdır İlyas, ten kms far from the center
of Alanya.
The church that is thought to have been founded on a
slope overlooking the Mediterranean at the beginning
of the 19th century is used for worshipping by Christian
and Muslim visitors today. It is rectangular in shape,
its roof is built of brick, its walls are made of stone
and it has a little apse. There's a mezzanine floor wooden
decorated in the church. The frescos on the walls have
been detoriated. It's understood from the inscription
that the church was repaired in 1873. The inscription
being exhibited in Alanya Museum was written in Turkish
(the language of Karamans), using the Greek alphabet.
The church was closed when the people of Orthodox Church
living in Alanya and speaking Turkish, went to Greece
because of the exchange in 1924. Hıdırellez
Church that has got a water source nearby is also known
as the Church of Antalya Kaleiçi. Entrance to
ruins is free. |
|
SHARAPSA INN
It’s a building from the 13th Century, 13 km to
the west of Alanya on the highway. The caravanserai was
built by Gıyaseddin Keyhusrev the Sultan of Seljuk
between the years 1236-1246 on the historical Silk Way.
The building which was built on a piece of land about
1000 square metres has walls built of bulky cut stones.
The caravanserai which was one of the most important
accommodation point of the the middle ages is to be used
as amusement centre today. |
|
THE CITADEL OF
ALARA
The Citadel of Alara was built in 1232, 37 kilometres
westward from Alanya on the demand of Alaaddin Keykubat,
the Sultan of Selcuks and it is 9 kilometres far from
the sea. The aim of the citadel that was on the Silk
Road was to protect the crowds stopped at the inn near
the Alara creek. It's built on a steep hill of 200 meters
up to 500. It looks magnificent. It consists of an inner
and outer part. A dark entrance-hall of 120 steps enters
the citadel. It is important to be careful about the
wild plants and ruins, since it is not organized as a
place to be visited. There are tunnels made by carving
rock in the citadel. There is a small palace, the rooms
of the workers, a mosque and a Turkish bath in the ruins.
Those who would like to go to the top of the citadel
through the walls and paths have to climb at least one
hour and be equipped properly. However, the view from
the top is worth climbing. |
|
ALARA INN
It’s located on a tableland 800m far away the Citadel
of Alara on the Alara Stream. Whole caravanserai has
been built of cut bulky stones on a land of piece of
2 thousand square metres. The inn, built in 1231, was
restored a few years ago and is to be used as restaurant
and shop centre.The warders hut keeps its specialities
today. The second door of the caravanserai opens out
to the guest rooms. There are small rooms next two sides
of the long hall. There is a fountain, a small mosque
and a bathhouse in the caravanserai. The signatures of
the stone craftsmen which searched out during the reparation
are very conspicuous. Keykubat said in the epigraphs
in Alanya he was,” the sultan of the land and the
two seas, the owner of the Arabic and Persian countries” and
in the epigraphs in Alara Inn he got the titles,”The
conqueror of Greek, Damascus, Armenian and european countries.” Alara
Inn must have been paid for visitting. You can have your
meal in the restaurant in the Inn as well as the small
eating houses on countryside and you can swim till mealtime. |
|
KARGI
INN
It is in the western part of Alanya, the north of the
Kargı creek. We have no idea of the year when it
was built since it has no inscription. It is a stone
building 46 meters wide and fifty meters long. ItÕs
thought to have been used as a caravanserai in Kesikbel,
on the road that played a role of a bridge between the
Mediterranean and central Anatolia in Roman times, Selcuk
and Ottoman Era.
There are air shafts on the ceiling of each room and
the rooms are found around the courtyard in the middle.
There are mangers for animals carved on the rock opposite
the door. The building is in ruins. |
|
|
