Alanya

                                                AlanyaPádár Zoltán

Alanya is a pretty town located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and surrounded by high mountains, wide green meadows, plateaus and innumerable rivers. It is a component district of Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, 138 kilometers east of the city of Antalya. According to the Turkey’s 2010 Census, the population of the city was about 99 000.

The city has a very strategic position, because it is based on a small peninsula into the Mediterranean Sea below the Taurus Mountains. Alanya has been a local fortress for many Mediterranean-based empires, including the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires. Alanya's greatest political importance came in the Middle Ages, with the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum under the rule of Alaeddin Kayqubad I, who also gave the name of the city when he was in power. His building campaign resulted in many of the city's landmarks, such as the Red Tower, Shipyard, or in Turkish the Kizil Kule and Tersane and of course the Alanya Castle. Overall, Alanya hosted countless civilizations throughout history therefore the city is very rich in ancient remains.

Alanya has a  hot-summer Mediterranean climate similar to Antalya. Located at the Mediterranean Basin, the subtropical high pressure zone ensures that most rain comes during the winter, leaving the summers long, hot, and dry, prompting the Alanya board of Tourism to use the slogan “where the sun smiles”. Storm cells sometimes bring with them fair weather waterspouts when close to the shore. The presence of the Taurus Mountain near the sea causes fog, in turn creating visible rainbows many mornings. The height of the mountains creates an interesting effect as snow can often be seen on them even on hot days in the city below. The sea at Alanya has an average temperature of 21 Celsius annually, with an average August temperature of 28 Celsius.

Let me describe the 3 most important sight in Alanya, as I already mentioned the Red Tower, Shipyard and the Alanya Castle. First the Alanya Castle stands on the peninsula, a Seljuk era citadel dating from 1226. Most of the landmarks in the city are based inside and around the castle. The current castle was built over existing fortifications and served both as a palace of local government and as a defensive structure in case of attack. In 2007, Byzantine church was built in the area of castle for use as a Christian community center. Inside the castle is the Süleymaniye mosque and caravanserai, built by Suleiman the Magnificent. The old city walls surround much of the eastern peninsula, and everyone is allowed to walk around. Inside the walls there are numerous historic cottages that can preserve the classical period of Ottoman architecture, most of them were built in the early 19th century.

  

Secondly, the Red Tower stands at the harbor right below the castle which is a 33 meter high brick building and containing the municipal ethnographic museum. Sultan Kayqubad I brought the architect Ebu Ali from Aleppo, Syria to Alanya to design the building. The last of Alanya Castle's 83 towers is a great example of medieval military architecture as the octagonal structure could protect the dockyard. The dockyard, as I said a medieval drydock built by the Seljuk Turks in 1221, it is 57 meter long and 40 meter wide and it is divided into five vaulted bays with equilateral pointed arches. The Alara Castle and caravanserai near Manavgat, also built under Kayqubad's authority, has been converted into a museum and heritage center.

  

The last architecture I want to mention is the Atatürk's House and Museum. It is preserved in its historic state and is an example of the interior of a traditional Ottoman villa, with artifacts from the 1930s. The house was built between 1880 and 1885 in the “karniyarik” or in English, stuffed eggplant style. Bright colors and red roofs are often mandated by neighborhood councils, and give the modern town a pastel glow. Housed in a 1967 Republican era building, The Alanya Museum is inland from Damlataşh Beach.

Turkey has a very interesting culture but it is true especially to Alanya's culture which plays as a subculture of the culture of Turkey. Because of the seaside of the city, many festivals take place here. Included both the Tourism and Arts Festival, which indicates the opening of the tourism season from at the end of May or beginning of June. At the opposite end of the season, the Alanya International Culture and Art Festival is held in the last week of May, and it is a tradicional Turkish festival.

Finally, I can say that tourists are drawn to the area because of reasonable prices, fantastic weather, sandy beaches, historic sites and fine cuisine. Beach activities in Alanya include wind surfing, parasailing, jet skiing, banana boating. And even during winter tourists can divide their spare time between the beaches and then enjoy various winter sports including skiing, snowboarding, tracking on the Taurus Mountains.