Antalya is placed on a terrace made by the traventines which is ending with the high perpendicular cliffs 25-30 mt far from the sea shore and made by the countless water sources coming from the lower slopes of the Taurus mountains and Duden water. There is Konyaalti and natural beaches at the west of this plainness Antalya Turkey. The Duden water and the sources reaches to the seaside making waterfalls from the cliffs.
Antalya and the surroundings is a residential place beginning from the prehistoric times. Karain and Beldibi caves residential gives us an opinion about the prehistoric times.
From the ancient sources Antalya was called Attalia, in European languages Adalia, in the middle ages Satalia and last in the ancient productions mostly called Adalya which is setted up by the Pergammon King Attalos II Philadolphos. It has been developed because of the suitable position and has became the Byzantine with the Pergammon kingdom because of the testament of Attolos III Philometor.
Antalya was also a commerce harbour of mediterranean sea’s in Byzantine period.
The city was attacked several times by the Arabians because of its richness and strategical location. In 860 Abbasies attacked from the sea, captured and kept the city a while.
The Seljuk’s Sultan Suleymansah captured the city in 1085 to 1103 which was captured back in 1103 by the Byzantine emperor Aleksios Komnenos. After the latins captured Constantinopolis the city of Antalya was governed by the Italian Aldobrandini. Seljuk’s Sultan Giyaseddin Keyhusrev captured back the city in 1207. The Seljuk’s strengthened the city walls and they made dockyard, wharf and breakwater.
The city of Antalya Turkey became the government’s important sea base and commerce harbour. There was no important events witnessed by the Ottoman Empire after the Seljuk’s. After the first world war in 28 March 1919 the city was possessioned by the Italians and taken back in 1 June 1921.
In the picturesque old quarter of Kaleici, narrow, winding streets and old wooden houses abut the ancient city walls. Since its founding in the second century B.C., Antalya has been continuously inhabited. At Antalya, the pine-clad Toros (Taurus) Mountains sweep down to the sparkling clear sea forming an irregular coastline of rocky headlands and secluded coves. The Antalya region of Turkey, bathed in sunshine 300 days of the year, is a paradise of sun- bathing, swimming and sport activities like wind-sorfing, water skiing, sailing, mountain climbing and hunting. If you come to Antalya in March or April, in the mornings you can ski the slopes and in the afternoons swim in the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Important historical sites await your discovery amid a landscape of pine forests, olive and citrus groves, and palm, avocado and banana plantations.
It is a privilage to enjoy Kaleici. Historical traces everywhere you touch, cultural heritage in all beauties you see, a nice melody in every sound you hear, a different pleasure in all meals you taste, all are hidden in Kaleici. Kaleici streets and structures enabled traces of Antalya history to reach the present day. It present past and present at the same time. In other words, it arouses all nice feelings inside you and gives you opportunity to enjoy symphony of happiness you cannot describe but just feel.
Streets of Kaleici are narrow. You dont get lost although they may
seem complex. They mainly extend from the harbor upwards, towards the
external walls. Houses in the streets today being restored faithfully
and some part of which serves as boutique hotel took shape according to
income level of residents. All of them have a street facade and a garden
not overlooking the street. In Antalya where summers are very hot and
winters are warm, while building houses, a great importance was given to
cooling and preventing sun rather than cold. Shaded gizzards and
courtyards are features facilitating air stream. Old houses are not
belvedere but also give idea about lifestyle, life standart, traditions
of people. If you are on a roll, even sipping your Turkish coffee you
can listen to memories of an old woman who lived in Kaleici following
the exchange in 1924.
Extending from the sea and the land, one of the walls protecting Kaleici
surrounds the yacht harbor and the other surrounds the city like a
horse shoe. Hadrian’s Gate considered as the most beautiful gate of
Pamphylia with few bastions in the city and towers next to the gate,
some parts of large tower overlooking the harbor and harbor walls, Kesik
Minaret considered as being turned into mosque from basilica by Sultan
Korkud, the son of Bayezid II. and seen among the symbols of Antalya,
two thousand years Hıdırlık Tower and Clock Tower rising to the bastions
of the castle remained erect from these walls to the present day.
Protecting its traditional architectural texture, Kaleici
today has been a tourism center beyond comparison where entertainment
venues, pensions, restaurants and souvenir shops are available.
To Kaleici opening its doors to the last in all aspects ranging from
culture to art, from food to shopping, from entertainment to recreation.
Antalya which has so many beaches with blue flag is in our days one of the most important tourism centers of Turkey is visited every year by hundred thousands of tourists coming from every part of the world. Antalya people says everytime that “Three seasons spring and one season summer”.