Good to know about Antalya
 

History
The area has been inhabited since the prehistorical era.Turquoise/Etruscan tribes moving southwards from the Euroasian steppes in around 3000 B.C. settled and founded their city in the Antalya region as in all of Anatolia. The area went under the reign of Kimmer in the 7th century, subsequently followed by Persians, Romans, Byzantines an many more. Finally, was seized by the Turks in 1207. “Attala”, is the root of the citiy name “the City of Hakan, son of God” in the Turquoise language. It is a province since 1923. The city which was “Adalia” during the Roman and Byzantine eras has been converted into Antalya.

King Attalos

The region of Antalya enjoys a rich culture and ethnography because of its historical background. The local people synthesised the characteristics of the Yörük (nomadic) culture in addition to the characteristics of settled cultures. Because of the extreme temperatures in summer the local people migrated to the uplands on the Taurus mountains and they where forced to produce both: the needs of the Yörük culture and the products grown on the coast. They own herds of sheep and goats before everything else, produced felt tents to shelter themselves on the uplands and specialised in the production of animal produce such as milk, butter and cheese.

Moreover the local people migrating to the uplands on the Taurus mountains also valued handicrafts and mainly wove the famous Döşemealtı Carpets of the area. These medium sized carpets are dyed using natural madder and characteristic colours are red, dark blue and green.

Location
Parallel to the mediterranean sea, in an east-west direction, runs the Taurus mountain range of South-Anatolia, building formations of narrow coastal plains, which are surrounded by mountains on three sides and open to the sea. The city Antalya is located on a plain consisting of two flat areas formed of falez rock at a height of more then 30 mtrs. The town centre lys on the first rocky plain at the coast and on the plain behind on the top of Kepez with small villages is to be found. The Taurus mountains have many deep valleys, caves and crevices. In the marshy areas at a height of 300 m from the coast scrub trees, known as maquis, are found. The alluvial soil on the plains is good for agriculture, fruit, vegetables and flowers are grown in greenhouses for export. Open an big orange, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit gardens can be seen everywhere. On the east of the Antalya plain, banana and avocado are grown. Cotton is sown as an industrial plant and cotton production holds great potential for Turkey.

The province of Antalya is closed to the cold northerly winds,so it is characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and moderately warm and rainy winters. The temperature could climbs sometimes up to more the 42°C in July and August.
 

Taurus mountains

The highest point of the Taurus mountains is Akdag at an altitude of 3025 mtrs. The Saklıkent ski and recreation centre on Beydağları is situated to the northwest of the city at a distance of 45 km. You can ski and then go down to the shore and into the sea during the months between January and April. For this characteristics the city is called the Turkish Riviera. In Saklıkent there are two skilifts and ski courses.

Rafting and canoeing sports in the rivers and on the Taurus mountains jeep safari, hunting and trekking tours are organised. Also you can do rock-climbing, bird watching tourism, photo-safari, mountain tourism, line fishing and for your health there are the thalasso and dialysis centres in Geyikbayır. Holy tourism activities are organized in Myra, St.Nicholas Church and Patara. Good organized underwater diving centres on the coast can be found in Kemer, Çamyuva, Olympos, Adrasan, Kaş, Kalkan, Üçağız, Kekova, Side and Alanya. Also yacht tours are organized from the old port of Antalya to Düden Waterfalls-Karpuzkaldıran and Kemer, up to Kekova and Kas. There are also boat tours on Manavgat river and canoe tours on Xanthos creek. Blue voyages, which covers the southwestern Anatolian coast, starts in Antalya or Kemer marina. Ferryboats operate in summer-saison from Alanya to Cyprus. Antalya today is a world tourism centre with its unique touristic accommodation facilities and al lot of nature and historical beauties. The city of Antalya is managed by a governor and a city council. The Port of Antalya is an important export and import harbour of Turkey.

Shopping and more
Contemporary products e.g. all kinds of jewellery, gold handicrafts, silver, ready-to-wear leather produce, hand-woven Turkish carpets, international textile trademarks and all kinds of souvenirs are on sale in the shopping centres around the city and at the Festival Market, Megacenters. One of Antalya’s most famous local dishes include Piyaz, made from tahin (sesame paste), garlic and boiled dried white beans, spicy hibeş with mixed tahin and cumin, şiş köfte, lots of kebaps, domates civesi, şakşuka and different cold Mediterranean dishes with olive oil used as starters.

New cafe-restaurant in city-center

Local dishes are found in Dönermaker corner, an authentic place in the heart of Antalya. Fish-restaurants, where all types of seafood are served you could find in Doğu Garajı, Meltem markets and on Lara and Konyaaltı beaches. A restaurant located on Tünek Tepe, turning round slowly itself offers a fantastic panorama of Antalya. Antalya folklore includes Zeybek dances to music generally played on the saz, with wooden spoons, small drums and the tambourine. On parts of the Taurus mountains yörüks perform religious folk dances called “sema”.

Antalya today is a huges worldtourism and cultural centre. The tourism potential is increasing every year. It serves both summer and winter tourism with its numerous accomadation centres, restaurants and tourism activities. International fairs are organised in the city every year as well. Among the important cultural and artistic activities are the international Golden Orange Film Festival organised every year, Classical Music Festivals organised at Aspendos Theatre, exhibitions, concerts for tourists, organised at the Glass Pyramid and the Atatürk Cultural Centre.

Historical Art-Works
The the old part of Antalya is a place called Kaleici, with ruins dating back thousands of years, temples, churches, basilicas houses and monuments from the time of the Seljuk and Ottoman dwellings. To serve for tourism, most of these having been restored. Very famous in the region is the Hadrian’s Gate, built in 139 A.D, also known as Üç Kapılar, a two-tier gate with three arches and 8 columns with Corinthian capitals. There are square watch towers on each side of the gate. Hidirlik Tower is a two-tier 14-metre high building from the Romen area on the falez rock end of the Antalya Park. It is thought to have been used as a lighthouse and later used as a basilica.

Old city of Antalya

At the Medrese, which served as the college of its era, courses in science, philosophy and technology were taught. To the northwest of the Mosque is Mevlevihane a square building from the 18th century.. The Clock Tower, onto which a clock was placed at a later period, is situated at a site known as Castle Gate. The Murat Paşa Mosque which was built by in 1570 is covered with a high dome upon a ten-corner frame. In the city centre the Sinan Mosque ordered to be built by Sheikh Sinan during the 16th century with rubble stone was built single-galleried with the short minaret made of dressed stone. The tomb of Sheikh Sinan is located opposite to the mosque.

The blue eye, called Bonjuk!
The Yörüks (nomads) protected their houses, tents, animals and new-born babies with a blue eye stone. It is against the evil eye according to the old Turkish rules and customs in order to protect themselves from the darkness of the night and bad-luck. Authentic local blue eyes you can buy in restored commercial buildings and souvenir shops in the city.

German Version

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