Alanya Essential: The Seljuk Red Tower, the Fortress on the Promontory, Cleopatra Beach, Damlatas Cave, the Turkish Riviera Resort Character, and the Dim Cave Day Trip
The Alanya essential circuit covers the Seljuk Red Tower as the most iconic medieval defensive tower on the Turkish Mediterranean coast, the Alanya Castle on the rocky promontory above the sea, the Cleopatra Beach with the clearest resort water on the Riviera, the Damlatas stalactite cave at the beach base, and the Dim Cave day trip.
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Alanya Red Tower: The Seljuk Harbor Defense
The Red Tower (Kizil Kule) of Alanya, built in 1226 by the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I and designed by the Syrian architect Ebu Ali Reha, is the most dramatically positioned Seljuk military tower on the Turkish coast - the octagonal five-story brick tower standing 33 meters high at the harbor entrance controlling the sea access to the Alanya shipyard. The Red Tower is the most intact single Seljuk fortification monument in Turkey and the tower that most completely demonstrates the Seljuk engineering adoption of the Byzantine coastal defense technology adapted to the Seljuk military aesthetic. The tower is now a museum housing the Seljuk maritime exhibits.
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Alanya Castle: The Promontory Fortress
The Alanya Castle (Alanya Kalesi) on the 250-meter rocky promontory that divides the Alanya coast into the eastern and western beaches is the most dramatically positioned single castle on the entire Turkish Mediterranean coast with the 6-kilometer Seljuk wall circuit enclosing the promontory from the Red Tower harbor to the summit fortress. The castle Ehmedek quarter at the mid-level of the promontory contains the Seljuk shipyard (tersane), the Byzantine church converted to the Suleyman Mosque, and the cisterns that allowed the castle garrison to withstand the longest sieges. The summit view from the castle over both beaches and the full sweep of the Alanya bay is the single most panoramic coastal view on the Turkish Riviera.
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Cleopatra Beach: The Riviera Swimming Standard
Cleopatra Beach on the western side of the Alanya promontory, the most famous single beach on the Turkish Mediterranean Riviera with the fine white sand and the clear turquoise water unobstructed by the promontory shadow until midday, is named for the legend that Antony gifted Cleopatra the Alanya promontory with its timber-rich forests for the Egyptian fleet construction. The beach sand grain size and the water clarity at Cleopatra Beach are the most consistently cited single quality benchmarks for resort beach comparison on the Turkish Riviera and the beach that most completely meets the international beach resort standard.
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Damlatas Cave: The Stalactites at the Beach
Damlatas Cave at the west end of Cleopatra Beach, discovered in 1948 during the harbor quarry blasting and developed as a tourist attraction by 1950, is the most conveniently located single stalactite cave in Turkey - accessible at the beach base without the mountain drive required for most Turkish cave visits. The Damlatas cave atmosphere with the 98 percent humidity and the 22-degree constant temperature was medically prescribed by the Turkish health authorities for asthma patients in the 1950s and the cave morning session (7am to 10am) is still designated for the asthma treatment program. The cave is the most immediately accessible single geological feature from a Turkish resort beach.
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Dim Cave: The Premium Stalactite Experience
Dim Cave (Dim Magarasi), 11 kilometers east of Alanya in the Taurus mountain foothills, is one of the largest single stalactite caves in Turkey at 360 meters of developed tunnel with the 15-meter-high cave chambers, the underground lake, and the most dramatically lit stalactite and stalagmite formations accessible from the Alanya resort. The Dim River gorge road to the cave passes the Dim Dam lake where the restaurant rafts serve the fresh mountain trout over the lake water. The combined Dim Cave and Dim River gorge half-day excursion is the most popular single nature day trip from the Alanya resort hotels.
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Alanya as Turkish Riviera Resort: The Eastern Antalya Province
Alanya, 135 kilometers east of Antalya, anchors the eastern end of the Turkish Riviera resort strip and is the second largest resort destination in the Antalya province after the Antalya city hotel strip. The Alanya resort character - the 4 and 5 star all-inclusive hotels concentrated on the Cleopatra and the Incekum beaches, the predominantly German, Russian, and Scandinavian charter tourism market, and the Alanya city center street market and the marina nightlife - is the most completely developed single Mediterranean package tourism destination in Turkey outside the Antalya Lara strip.
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More in Alanya
Alanya History: The Seljuk Conquest and Alaeddin Keykubad, the Alanya Shipyard, the Byzantine Kalonoros, the Ottoman Incorporation, and the Banana Agriculture of the Sheltered Microclimate
Alanya Practical: Antalya Airport Transfer, Bus and Shuttle Connections, the Beach Choice, Accommodation from Budget to All-Inclusive, the Best Season, and the Departure Summary
Alanya to Antalya: Aspendos the Best Preserved Ancient Theatre, Perge the Pamphylian City, Termessos the Unconquered Taurus Fortress, and the Antalya Province Ancient Heritage
Eastern Riviera Circuit: Side the Apollo Temple on the Beach, the Manavgat Waterfall, the Side Roman Ruins, the Seleucia Pieria Ancient City, and the Full Eastern Riviera Day Trip
Alanya Underwater: The Diving Scene, the Blue Cave, the Phosphorescent Cave, the Pirate Cave Boat Tour, Underwater Archaeology, and the Eastern Mediterranean Dive Sites
