Antalya

GENERAL INFORMATION ON ANTALYA

The Taurus mountain range of southern Anatolia runs parallel to the Mediterranean in an east-west direction, resulting in the formation of narrow coastal plains, which are surrounded by mountains on three sides and open to the south sea. On some parts of the coast, where the mountains plunge sharply into the sea, small natural bays and peninsulas are formed. Antalya is situated on a plain which consists of two flat areas formed of falez rock at a height of 35 m, where the mountains recede from the shore. On the first rocky plain on the coast is the town centre and on the plain behind it, named Kepezüstü, small settlement units have been established. The coast is 530 km in length and borders with Eşen in the west and Kaledran creek in the east. The province has an area of 20,820 km². The soil of the plain is made up of conglomerate, alluvium and travertine falez rocks. The Taurus mountains, formed of limestone and serpentine lands, with karst surface formations, have many deep valleys, caves, crevices and faults. In the marshy areas at a height of 300 m from the coast scrub trees, known as maquis, are found. These include oleander, wild strawberries, sandalwood, strawberry trees, myrtle, chinaberry trees, bay, chaste trees, carob trees, broom and spurge. Thyme, sage, saffron, burdock, asphodel, asparagus, blackberry, chrysanthemum and, sparsely, oak, Oriental plane, wild pear, olive and linden trees are also found. 300 metres further on in, the red pine and oak forests, and marshes with eucalyptus trees can be seen. 1200 m further on the forests with cedar, fir trees, Scotch pine, juniper and beech begin. As the alluvial soil on the plains is suitable for agriculture, vegetables, fruit and flowers are grown in greenhouses for export. Open orange, mandarin, lemon and grapefruit gardens can be seen in the vicinity, in the warm Mediterranean winds. On the east of the Antalya plain, banana and avocado are grown. Cotton is sown as an industrial plant and cotton production, along with cotton mills and textile factories, holds great potential for Turkey. Apples, pears, quince, grapes and sesame are grown on the mountainous plateaus. The regional fauna is very good for hunting tours. In Düzlerçamı on the Taurus mountains, covering an area of 10,000 hectares, fallow deer, wild goat and roe deer hunting is permitted on a controlled basis. Wolves, foxes, brown bears, martens, wild boar, wild cats and jackals are the wild species that are often found. The Taurus Leopard was known to exist until recently. Partridge, quail, turtle dove, wild pigeon, blackbird, woodcock, francolin and wild duck can be regarded as game birds. The region is well-known for its grida fish; in addition to this, sea bream, horse mackerel, black bream, gilt-head, grey mullet, gurnard, whiting, bonito, striped red mullet, needlefish, large bonito, red gurnard and red mullet are among the major sea fish, other sea produce includes hermit crab, lobster, shrimp, cuttle-fish and mussel. In addition, cage fishing is carried out in the sea at six points on the coast where sea-bass and grey mullet are bred. Fresh water line fishing is carried out in the Eşen, Dim, Köprüçay, Manavgat, Akçay and Alara rivers. The fish restaurants established within water in the Dim Creek are particularly famous. The main fresh water fish are fresh water chub, fresh water perch, carp, mirror-carp, eel, bleak and tench. There are numerous trout production farms and restaurants in those parts of the Taurus Mountains close to water and river beds. The province of Antalya is located between the north latitudes of 36,07° - 37,29° and east longitudes of 29,20° - 32,35°. Since the area is closed to the cold northerly winds, it is characterized by the typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and moderately warm and rainy winters. In the area with sunny weather for 10 months a year the temperature climbs up to 45°C in July and August. The sea breeze and the northeasterly winds blowing from inland relieve the area under this temperature.

 

Months	Average temperature	Seawater temperature
January	16,5	17,6
February	16,6	17
March	18	16,5
April	20,5	18,5
May	24	20,5
June	29	24,5
July	32	28,5
August	33	29,5
September	30	27,5
October	27	25
November	22	21
December	18	18

 

The highest point of the Taurus mountains is Akdağ at an altitude of 3025 metres. Located to the northwest of the city centre and at a distance of 50 km is the Saklıkent ski and recreation centre on Beydağları. Here one can ski and then go down to the shore and into the sea during the months of January-April. Thanks to this characteristic the city is called the Turkish riviera. In Saklıkent there are two teleski and ski courses along with villas and accommodation facilities available in the area. Situated on Bakırlı Hill behind Saklıkent is the Antalya National Space Observatory with a reflecting telescope 40 m in diameter and a telescope 150 cm in diameter. It is possible to watch meteor showers and shooting stars on certain days of the year. In rivers rafting and canoeing sports and on the Taurus mountains jeep safari, hunting and trekking tours are organised. Alternatively, there is rock-climbing, bird watching tourism, photo-safari, mountain tourism, line fishing and health tourism at the thalasso and dialysis centres in Geyirbayır. Holy tourism activities are organized in Myra, St.Nicholas and Patara. There are underwater diving centres on the coast, primarily in Kemer, Çamyuva, Olympos, Adrasan, Kaş, Kalkan, Üçağız, Kekova, Side and Alanya. In addition, yacht tours are organized from the port of Antalya to Düden Waterfalls-Karpuzkaldıran and Kemer, from Side to Alanya, from Demre-Çayağzı to Kekova, from Kaş to Kekova, from Kemer to Çıralı-Olympos-Adrasan and Cape Gelidonya. There are also boat tours on Manavgat creek and canoe tours on Xanthos creek. In addition, blue voyage, which covers the southwestern Anatolian coast, ends in Antalya. There are ferryboat trips from Alanya to Cyprus and from Antalya to Italy. Antalya today is a world tourism centre with its unique touristic accommodation facilities, nature and historical beauties. The city of Antalya is managed by a governor and a city council, with one greater city and three district municipalities. The Antalya port is one of the most prominent export and import ports of Turkey. The Free Trade Zone existing within the port conveniently serves the export of all types of products, primarily being textile, mine and agricultural products.

 

History

As a result of the research conducted at the Karain cavern located to the north of the city it is understood that the area has been inhabited since the prehistorical era. Side It is known that the Turquoise/Etruscan tribes moving southwards from the Euroasian steppes in around 3000 B.C. settled and founded their city in the Antalya region as in all of Anatolia. Belek The area is named Ahhiyava in the Hittite inscriptions. It is understood that the Luwi and Lukka tribes of the Turquoises also settled in the mountainous Psidia, Lycia and Pamphilia regions located within the city limits of Antalya. The area went under the reign of Kimmer in the 7th century, subsequently followed by Persians, Macedonians, Pers, Romans and Byzantines and, finally, was seized by the Turks in 1207. The root of the name of the city is understood to be "Attala", that is, "the City of Hakan, son of God" in the Turquoise/Luwi language. It served as the centre of the Teke Sanjak in the lands of Karamanoğulları for a certain period of time, then subordinated to the province of Konya in the 19th century and finally became a province in 1923. The city which was "Adalia" during the Roman and Byzantine eras has been converted into Antalya today through phonetic pronunciation.

DAILY LIFE, CULTURE AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF ANTALYA

Thanks to its historical background the Antalya region enjoys a rich culture and ethnography. In addition to the characteristics of settled cultures, the local people also synthesised the characteristics of the yörük (nomadic) culture, thus establishing a unique culture of their own. Belek, The migration of the local people from the shore towards the uplands on the Taurus mountains because of the excessive temperature during summers created a need as such, forcing them to produce the needs of the yörük culture in addition to the products grown on the coast. These people, owning herds of sheep and goats before everything else, first produced felt tents from the wool of these domestic animals in order to shelter themselves on the uplands and, alongside this, specialised in the production of animal produce such as milk, butter and cheese. They dried various fruits in the mountains and made jams and pickles with them, and made molasses from grapes. 40 different types of jam are made in the region including, primarily, bitter orange, bergamot, quince, apricot, apple, eggplant, watermelon, fig, wild strawberry, black mulberry and blackberry. Antalya, Moreover, besides the livestock farming, dairy produce and hunting, the local people migrating to the uplands on the Taurus mountains also valued handicrafts and mainly wove the famous Döşemealtı Carpets of the area. Alanya, These medium sized carpets are dyed using natural madder and are generally red, dark blue and green. With pure wool warp and weft, these carpets feature five stone, camel's foot, branch and cross motifs. The yörüks (nomads) adorn their houses, tents, saddle- and domestic animals and new-born babies with a blue eye stone against the evil eye according to the old Turkish rules and customs in order to protect themselves from the darkness of the night and all ill-luck. Today, in the villages on the hills of the Taurus mountains known as Döşemealtı, rugs, provisions sacks, socks and various household covers are woven along with elegant crochet-work embroidery. In Akseki small household utensils such as wooden spoons are carved out of box tree wood. Side, All of these authentic local products are sold in restored commercial buildings and souvenir shops in the city, such as Tek Kapılı Han, Alarahan, Serapsu Han and Bedesten. As for contemporary produce, all kinds of jewellery, gold handicrafts, silver, ready-to-wear leather produce, hand-woven Turkish carpets, international textile trademarks and all kinds of souvenirs are on sale in the shopping centres around the airport and at the Festival Market, Migros and Liman Megacentres. Antalya's most famous local dishes include Piyaz, made with tahini (crushed sesame seeds), garlic, walnuts and boiled dried beans, spicy hibeş with mixed cumin and tahini, şiş köfte, tandır kebap, domates civesi, şakşuka and various cold Mediterranean dishes with olive oil.

 

Dönerciler Çarşısı is an authentic spot where the local dishes are found. There are fish restaurants, where all types of seafood are served, in Doğu Garajı, Meltem Çarşısı and on Lara and Konyaaltı beaches. Moreover, Döner Gazino and Restaurant located on Tünek Tepe present a splendid panorama of Antalya. Antalya folklore includes zeybek dances to music generally played on the saz, with wooden spoons, small drums and the tambourine. On parts of the Taurus mountains religious folk dances, called sema, are performed by yörüks. Yörüks also have instrumental-only folk dance tunes, called "boğaz" tunes. Antalya today is a world tourism and cultural centre with its tourism potential increasing every year. With its numerous accommodation centres, restaurants and tourism activities from Alanya to Fethiye it serves both summer and winter tourism. Various international fairs are organised in the city every year, primarily being the tourism fair at the Expo Centre and the food and beverage fairs aimed at tourism, such as Touristic Enterprises equipment. Among the important artistic and cultural activities are the international Golden Orange Film Festival organised every year, Classical Music Festivals organised at Aspendos Theatre, exhibitions, concerts, seminars, conferences and colloquiums for tourists, organised at the Glass Pyramid and the Atatürk Cultural Centre. The city also enjoys the amenities of modern life thanks to its modern theatres, art houses, exhibition halls and symphony orchestra.

Antalya, Belek, Side, Fethiye, Kemer, Alanya