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.