Alanya is probably the most famous beach resort in the whole of Turkey. Once an important port and strategic point of defence at the foot of the mighty Taurus Mountains, the town faced seemingly terminal decline throughout the mid-17th, 18th and the 19th centuries following the conquest of Cyprus and the pacification of the Anatolian mainland. The population exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne in 1922 dealt a further blow to the future of this town, as Alanya's prosperous Greek population was forced to resettle in mainland Greece.
Since the onset of tourism operations at this part of Turkey during the 1980s, however, Alanya has experienced a huge revival in its fortunes. The opening of Antalya airport to international air traffics in the late 1990s further helps to boost the number of foreign tourists arriving at Alanya. Nowadays tourism is the most important income-generating sector, accounting for more than 1.1bn Euros in 2009, according to one industry analysis. With the exponential growth of the tourism industry, the population of Alanya also expanded at a breakneck pace, from less than 100,000 in the mid-1980s, to almost 400,000 in the early 21st century. The booming seaside resort has attracted a huge following amongst expatriates from continential Europe seeking a more agreeable sunny climate. Alanya (in conjunction with the surrounding districts) is now home to more than 17000 foreign expatriates who choose to buy a property here and settle down in Alanya. During the summer peak seasons, the influx of tourists and seasonal workers engaged in the tourism sector push the population to over 1 million in certain parts of the year.
Dubbed the town with possibly the largest German/Nordic population in the whole of Turkey, what are the draws of Alanya?
To start with, Alanya has one of the longest stretch of natural white sandy beach in the whole of Turkey. With miles of endless soft white sand and calm waves throughout the year, stunning scenery in the backdrop, together with mild, sunny climate all year round and a relatively warm water temperature even during the cooler winter months, all these attributes help to make the town an ideal place of refuge for old-age pensioners from western and northern Europe, who choose to escape the harsh cold winter months in their home country for personal health reasons and seek out the mild winter suns in the southeastern Mediterraneans.
There are two main beaches in Alanya, both are of excellent quality. The more famous beach is the Cleopatra Beach which lies to the west of the town, towards the direction of Side and Antalya. Legends has it that the beach gained its name because it was the place where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra spent their honeymoon, as Alanya and the surrounding region was supposedly given to Cleopatra as a wedding gift by her new lover. At a time when the hills around Alanya were full of primary forests, which provide huge quantity of natural timbers that were used mainly in the building of ships and war fleets, such a wedding endowments must have been of enormous values to the ambitious Egyptian queen.
Although Alanya is now primarily being classified as a top all-inclusive beach holidays spot in the eastern Mediterranean, there are still a few historical landmarks inside the town which are certainly worth visiting. The Red Tower, picture above, located at the harbour of Alanya and one of the most familiar historical landmarks in the whole of Turkey, is a prime example of very well-preserved early medieval military architecture. Built in the early 13th century, the tower was built by an Anatolian Seljuk sultan with red bricks, hence the name the Red Tower. Its original purpose was to serve as a military fortification to protect the dry dock (the Tersane) situated right next to the tower, also built around the same time. Nowadays the Red Tower housed the town's Ethnographic Museum with some exhibits about the history of the tower itelf and of Alanya.
Another of Alanya's important landmark is the majestic Alanya Castle that perched on top of a rocky peninsula surrounded on three sides by the sea. The present castle was built as part of a defensive fortification system which included the Red Tower by the same Anatolian Seljuk Sultan in the early 13th century on the site of former Byzantine and Roman-era fortress. After the Ottoman conquest of Anatolia, the Alanya Castle ceased to be purely defensive in terms of purpose, and many private villas and traditional Ottoman-Turkish houses were constructed instead within the premises of the Castle compound.
From the top of the long fortification ramparts that encircled the castle's compound, one gets a truly breathtaking and stunning view of Alanya, the surrounding hills, and miles of white beaches that stretches all the way along the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. For those who are interested in visiting the castle but do not have a car or the leg power to climb up the curvy steep hillside drive that leads up to the castle, there is a municipal bus service that operates from the bus stop near the public beach No. 1, next to the road that leads to the famous limestone cave of Damlatas.
With the rising demand for more tourist accommodations, more and more hotels and holiday apartment blocks have been constructed in the past few years to cater to the ever increasing numbers of foreign holiday makers. While the building of new high-rise apartment and hotel blocks have been prohibited within the city centre of Alanya, areas outside of the city centre had seen almost uncontrolled expansions in the last decade. The coastline of Alanya now looks strikingly similar to that of Spain's over-developed Costa del Sol and slightly less over-developed Costa Blanca, with miles after miles of high rise holiday apartment blocks, modern multi-story hotels made of concrete and glass opening up one after the other, and countless shops, supermarkets, and other tourism-related business appearing on the scene like mushrooms after the rain.
To their credit, the municipal council of Alanya has tried to make the city centre as much pleasant place for all as possible. I was positively surprised to find plenty of open parks, public space and municipal gardens within the confines of this busy tourist town in spite of the soaring values of land within its city centre limits. I remembered how distasteful it was during my very first visit to Alanya years ago, when the whole city centre was packed with shops selling counterfeit branded T-shirts, footwears and handbags. It really gave one the impression that Turks do think that an European's vision of an ideal holiday in the south of Turkey is to fill their suitcases with as many fake Gucci and Chanel bags as possible.
Although these shops who make a huge business in selling counterfeit products still do exist and are still making healthy profits, fortunately a new generation of shops selling Turkish-designed fashions, accessories, furnitures, jewellery etc. have begun to emerge. It seems Alanya is trying to shake off its reputation as a budget all-inclusive package holiday destination and re-position itself as a resort catering to the more discerning class of tourists.
Thanks to its mild climate, the tourism season in Alanya goes on almost all-year round, unlike many of the resort towns in Turkey's western Aegean coast. A new airport at the town of Gazipasa, about 24km east of Alanya, is due to open to international air traffics in 201 after years of petition from both local authorities and tourism sectors. The opening of this new airport would considerably shorten the travel time required between western Europe and Alanya. Until now, however, only domestic flights are available between Istanbul and Gazipasa airport. International visitors will have to wait a while before they can avoid the two-hour drive from the highly congested Antalya international airport.
Alanya is full of tourist accomodations that cater to all kinds of taste and pockets. Simple hotel rooms with en-suite facilities and breakfast can be found for less than 10 euro per night. Many of the simple hotels also have a small swimming pool, although I often wonder why one would bother to swim in a swimming pool when the sea, so beautiful and inviting, is just a few steps away.
Locals also treat the seaside as their picnic ground. On weekends the beaches and the parks are full of Turkish families having their weekly family gathering under the sun. Weekly street markets are held in the parks next to the beach, where handicrafts and home-grown fruits and vegetables are on sale by stalls set up by the farmers themselves.
For those who are interested in exploring the southeastern Mediterranean coast, Alanya makes a good starting point. Frequent bus service links Alanya with eastern coastal cities such as Silifke, Mersin, and Adana. And the castle at Anamur en route to Mersin is worth a stop too.
Copyrights@2011。 All text and photos by Illy the Shiba Inu. All Rights Reserved.
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