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 Kýzkule, extend down from Ehmedek, Ýçkale, Adam Atacaðý, Cilvarda Burnu, Arap Evliyasý Rampart and Esat Rampart and pass through Tophane and Tersane and end at Kýzýlkule 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. Ýn front of wooden and stone made houses, silk and cotton are woven, different figuredcalabash 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. Ýn 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. Ýt 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. Ýt’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 
Ýt began to be built in 1227 and finished in one year, near Kýzýlkule (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. Ýn 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 Karamanoðullarý 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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIDIRELLEZ CHURCH 
It is within the boundaries of Hacý Mehmetli Village in Hýdýr Ýlyas, 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. Hýdýrellez 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 Gýyaseddin 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 Kargý 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.

© 2015 Alanya Dental Clinic