| Antalya has a great deal to
offer to those wanti n g to make fu II use of their ti me asthere are many places of
historic interest and natural beauty to be visited in and outside the city as well as in
the immediate vicinity. Information on the historic places and ruins in the region as a
whole can be found under the heading "Ancient Cities in the Antalya Region". In
this section we will deal with places of historic interest, natural beauty, parks,
beaches, caves and such like to be found in and close to Antalya. The City Walls
The ancient city of Antalya was protected by two walls, in
the shape of a horseshoe, one enclosing it along the shore and the other inland. In
addition, there were walls within the city separating the various settlements, and agreat
number of towers on the outer walls at 50 paces from eachother. These walls date back to
ancient times and, as was the general rule, the Romans built on the Hellenistic
foundations and these were subsequently widened and repaired by the Seljuks. Many stone
blocks with ancient inscriptions were used and the walls were well protected until the end
of the 19th century. Today in the city can be seen the remains of some of the walls, a few
turrets, Hadrian's Gate, the Clock Tower, and the "HIdlrlk" Tower.
The Fortress And Yacht Harbour
The ancient city centre enclosed by the sea and land walls
is today called the "Kale iCi" (Inner Bailey). The streets and buildings still
bear the marks of Antalya's history. The characteristics of the houses do not lie only in
their architecture but reflect the living habits, customs and social ways of the
inhabitants of ancient Antalya and are thus a valuable source of information. |
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The streets within the bailey
are narrow, and stretch upwards from the harbour and along by the walls. The difference in
the houses shows the economic status of the owners or the purpose for which they were
used. However, they share many common factors. Most of them were built of cnnsonry
interspersed withtimber. Each one has a front and back garden. There are very few windows
on the street side of the fi rst floor of the house. On the top floor is a
"cumba" or trellised projection in harmony with the architecture of the house
and street, adorned with wooden ornaments. The centre of the house is on the ground floor
and opens onto a paved courtyard called a "taSllk" and where there are wooden
benches. This leads into the ground floor rooms and there Is also a strarcase to the upper
floors. The ground floor is largely the house's servicing area and consists of the
kitchen, storage room, etc. while the upper floor contains the living quarters, although
kitchen and storage room can sometimes be seen on the top floor. The upper floor rooms are
larger and lighter with large windows. In some of these houses the top floor rooms have
two rows of windows, one on top of the other, and in some cases the upper rows do not have
any glass only wooden lattices. The bottom row can be opened. In the upper part of some of
the "cumba" are small pieces of glass, sometimes coloured. A few of the
buildings within the harbour have been restored and restoration is continuing. Today in
the inner bailey can be found places of entertainment, guest houses, restaurants, shops
selling souvenirs and old carpets and other necessities, a supermarket servicing the
yachts as well as other amenities required by them, and it is in fact an attractive centre
of tourism. The port of Antalya was formeirly
considered after Mersin as the only port on Turkey's western seaboard where ships could
dock. However, today it is used exclusively as a yacht harbour. After the new industrial
harbour west of Antalya went into operation, the former port became known as the Yacht
Harbour.
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