Berlitz: Turkish Coast Pocket Guide by APA

Author:APA
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Travel, Turkish Coast
Publisher: APA
Published: 2012-01-21T16:00:00+00:00

Fine facilities

‘There are eight bath-houses in the city, most within the walls, and a bazaar on the outskirts. Here there are twenty Muslim neighbourhoods and four Greek neighbour-hoods, but the non-Muslims know no Greek.The harbour has space for two hundred ships, but since wind and gales are frequent in the harbour, the ships moor to high rocks on the shore.’

The renowned Turkish traveller Evliya Celebi, who visited Antalya in 1671–2.

The town's closest beach lies to the west in modern Konyaalti district, backed by hotels, restaurants, parks and entertainment venues. This is also the home of the Antalya Müzesi A [map] (2km (1 mile) west of the town centre; Tue–Sun summer 9am–7.30pm, winter 8.30am–4.30pm; charge), a truly world-class museum, with many of the statues and mosaics from Perge, Aspendos and Xanthos, as well as early prehistoric items found locally, a superb selection of decorative sarcophagi, and ethnographic collections covering everything from carpets to traditional dress and carriages. Look out for the silver reliquary that once held the bones of St Nicholas.

The city's other sites are all within the walls of Kaleiçi, entered through Hadrian's Gate B [map], a triumphal arch built when the emperor visited in AD130. Nearby are the Saat Kulesi C [map] (clocktower) built in 1244 (although the clock was added much later), 16th-century Mehmet Paşa Camii D [map] and the distinctive Yivli Minare E [map] (Fluted Minaret), with its decorative turquoise and blue tiles, whose adjoining mosque is now an art gallery. Write a wish and put the paper in the ancient olive tree next to the minaret and it will come true. Further along, the Kesik Minare F [map] (Broken Minaret) is an all-purpose religious site that has, in its time, been a Roman temple, a Byzantine church and an Ottoman mosque. On the headland overlooking the harbour, the squat round Hidirlik Kulesi G [map] may have begun life as a lighthouse in the 2nd century AD. The only museum in Kaleiçi is the Mediterranean Civilisations and Research Institute H [map] (Suna-İnan Kiraç Akdeniz Araştirma Enstitütü; Kocatepe Sok 25; Thur–Tue summer 9am–noon & 2–7.30pm, winter 9am–noon, 1–6pm; charge), a small, private museum occupying two restored Ottoman mansions and the Orthdox church of Agios Georgios. The church contains Çanakkale ceramics, the houses rich archives and rooms restored as tableaux. Antalya's oldest hamam (bath-house) is just opposite. All around are a maze of small steep streets and alleys filled with old Ottoman houses, many restored as accommodation, restaurants and shops that make this an ideal place to stroll, stopping for an occasional glass of black tea and some hard bargaining. Boat trips leave from the old harbour.

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