General Informations

Alanya

Alanya is a beautiful holiday center of modern hotels and motels, numerous fish restaurants and cafes and bars. the cafes that ring the harbor have become popular gathering places for tourists. From the town's lovely park, road runs along the cost to the harbor, lined with countless boutiques that tempt tourists with handicrafts, leather, clothes, jewelry, handbags and the amusing painted gourds, a symbol of the area. In august when Alanya hosts a colorful International Folklore Festival the atmosphere is charged with vitality and gaiety. 

If you enjoy exploring you should visit the Damlatas Cave to see the eerie misshapen rock formations. Nearby is the Archaeological and Ethnographical Museum. A boat can take you to the three sea grottoes: Fosforlu Magara with its phosphorescent rocks, the Kizlar Magarasi, where pirates imprisoned their female captives, and the Asiklar Magarasi.

when the intense sun overpowers you, take a day trip to the dim Cayi Valley, 15 km east of Alanya, where you can relax in the shade of this scenic valley and listen to the stream rushing by.

Avsallar (Incekum), about 25 km from Alanya to the west, is a holiday resort center with fine sandy beaches. If you travel east From Alanya towards Gazipasa you will discover and no doubt linger on the exceptional beaches.

30 km east of Alanya, Aytap, the historical harbour city lot ape , is great excursion site, with Roman ruins, secluded beaches and bays

 

History



The name of the Alanya in antiquity is Corasiceum.It remained an independent city between Pamphylia and Cilicia. The Syrian King antiochus III. conquered entire Cilicia but could not get hold of Corasiceum.

Blinded by their victories and arrogance, the Corasiceans got involved in acts of piracy. The most notorious of the pirates was Tryphon. He was a fearful adversary even for the Roman empire. His men infiltrated the Roman costal towns and abducted women and asked for ransom. The naval commercial lines were all cut off because of the attacks of the pirates. Famine struck the Roman Cities. And that was the last drop, The roman Commander Pompeius chastised the Corasiceans in 67 BC by totally annihibilating their fleet as well as all of the pirates. Corasiceum became part of the Roman Empire.

It is claimed that Alanya was allocated for Cleopatra by Antonius and that Cleopatra has used the cedar and pine trees of Alanya forest for building a new fleet.

In the Byzantine times, Alanya took on the name Kolonoros; meaning the beautiful mountain.

But she lived her brighest times in the Seljuk period. Alaaddin Keykubat lent his name to the city (ala-iye; meaning Ala-City). Alanya became a very important hub of commerce and culture. The town and remained so until the 13th Century when the silk roads started to lose its importance. Many structures in the castle, Sarapsa Han on the Antalya Road,Alara Han on the road connecting Konya to the shore, the last stop and Alara Kalesi (castle) are some of the more prominent works of Seljucks.


Air : Antalya International Airport , 130 km from Antalya
Road: Direct bus connections from all main cities
Sea : Port of call Meditranean Cruises