Club Hotel Falcon

Saint George Church(Agios Georgios)

by marsistanbul

This church known by the name of Aya Yorgi is one of the five Orthodox churches in the Kaleici(citadel) of Antalya.
Over its entrance,there is a bas-relief representation of the St.George defeating the dragon,surrounded by an interesting in scription written in Turkish with Greek characters.
According to this inscription,the church that already existed there for a long time repaired by the Christians of Antalya in 1863.
Fallen into a very ruined condition since then,the restoration of this building under the status of cultural assets for the protection was sponsored by Suna and Inan KIRAC between 1993-1995.
At present,it serves as the exhibition hall of Kaleici Museum.
Barbaros mah.Kocatepe sok.No:25 Kaleici-Antalya

Visit "Kaleiçi"..

by Erkmen

Kaleici is inside the fortress and Antalya has a very nive Kaleici.. Old Antalya houses, some are very old, some are being restorated.. But they all represent a way of life.. Touring along the kaleici will take you to a different environment, You should spare almost one hour to travel all around.. But it will worth to see..

A classical music concert in...

by Arkeolog

A classical music concert in Aspendos ancient theatre.FANTASTIC!!!
sightseeing tours, rafting in Koprulucay, Seasports, entarteinment, shopping, ancient cities and museums. Another must see is, Aqua Fun Park(Dedeman Hotel)... Below you see a bar in a pool. There are many atractions for visitors.Water slides, trambolines etc. Worth to visit. Left: Bar in the pool!
Rafting? great experience!!!

Antalya at Christmas time

by budapest8

"Nobody celebrates Christmas so it`s more fun"

I spent Christmas here in 1995 when I got a cheap charter flight from Stockholm for a week.It cost about $220 for a weeks stay + return flight with breakfast included. It was a last minute offer and I didn't relish the idea of being stuck alone in Stockholm over Crimbo. I travelled there with an ex-girlfriend from Russia.The weather was really nice and it was sunny and quite warm on 4 of the days.Just go to the bus station and jump on a bus somewhere and experiance the more typical Turkish life.

"A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF ANTALYA"

• Evidence of human habitation dating back over 200 000 years has been unearthed in the Carain caves 30 km to the north of Antalya city. Other findings dating back to Neolithic times and more recent periods show that the area has been populated by various ancient civilizations throughout the ages.
• Records from the Hittite period (when the first recorded political union of Anatolian cities was set up calling itself the Lycian league) refer to the area as the Lands of Arzarwa and document the lively interaction going on between the provinces in 1700 BC.
• Historical records document how cities developed independently, how the area as a whole was called Pamphilia and how a federation of cities was set up in the province. There is also a record of the migration of the Akha Clan to the area after the Trojan war.
• The reign of the Kingdom of Lydia in the west Anatolia came to an end in 560 BC after the Persians defeated it during the battle of Sardis in 546 BC.
• From 334 BC until his death, Alexander the Great conquered the cities of the area one by one - leaving out Termessos and Silion- and so continued the sovereignty of the Persians.
• With the defeat of the Seleucid army at Apamaea began the reign of the Kingdom of Pergamon. In 150 BC Attalos the 2nd, king of Pergamon, founded the city of Attalaia (today’s Antalya) to base his powerful naval fleet.
• When Attalos the 3rd, the last king of Pergamon, died in 133 BC he left his kingdom to the Romans. The Roman and subsequent Byzantine Empires ruled the area for the next 13 centuries.
• In 1207 A.D. the Selchuk Turks conquered Antalya and then Alanya in 1220 A.D.This marked the end of Roman/Byzantine rule.
• Ottoman rule began in 1391. The brief occupation of the area by the Italians came to an abrupt end after the First World War with the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923. The area is now registered as a province of the Republic of Turkey.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TURKS
The Republic of Turkey, founded in 1923, has its roots in two historical resources well in the depths of the past. One of these resources inherited by modern Turkey is the successful and bright history of the Turks over a time frame of more than 4000 year. The other is fact that Turks have settled in Anatolia since the 11th century.

The brightest period of the Ottoman State was during the reign of Sultan Suleyman (1520-1566) when the boundaries of the Empire spread from the outskirts of Vienna to the Bay of Basra and from the Crimea to an expanded north Africa as far as Ethiopia.

The Ottoman Empire continued to acquire territory until the middle of the 17th century. In 1683, it suffered its first major loss with defeat in the siege of Vienna.
The attempt of the victorious Allies to control the Anatolian territory led to the Turkish War of Independence (1918-23).

Following the occupation of Istanbul in 1920 by the British, Italian and French, a Greek army advanced from Izmir deep into Anatolia.

While the sultan offered no resistance, under the leadership of Kemal Ataturk, the Turkish Nationalists overturned the postwar settlement embodied in the Treaty of Sévres (1920) and established the Republic of Turkey, formally recognized by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.

Mustafa Kemal retired his military uniform and inspired the people to an even greater task: Transformation of the country into the democratic, secular Republic of Turkey

SIGHTSEEING
The coastal strip from Konyaaltı to Lara reveals a modern urban concept. Antalya is a developed Mediterranean city with wide boulevards and parks stretching along the shore. The restaurants accommodate a broad spectrum of tastes and budgets from fast food to French. It is one of the few cities combining the conveniences of urban life with the pleasures of a seaside resort.

It is best to start a tour of Antalya from the center of the city. The many minarets, tower, gate, narrow streets and the historical houses of the Kaleiçi (castle) area and the old harbor have a diameter of no more than 1 km. You can easily stroll through the area. The Antalya Museum featuring findings from Side, Perge and Patara is one of the most important museums in Turkey. The European Council extended it the jury special award for the museum of the year in 1988.

One of the most attractive aspects of Antalya is the opportunity to go skiing in the spring and winter and the interesting areas in its environs such as the splendid beaches of Beldibi, Lara and Kemer; Saklıkent; the waterfalls of Manavgat, Düden (height 40 m) and Kurşunlu; the Damlataş cave; the Alanya castle; the antique cities of Side, Perge, Selge and Thermessos; the Aspendos theater; the Köprülü Kanyon National Park that is ideal for rafting; the Olympos - Bey Mountain National Park and hundreds of other natural and historic beauties. You may also want to see the magnificent Taurus Mountains.