Alanya

Alanya is a modern city located on the Mediterranean coast at the foot of the Taurus Mountains.

With its main attraction being an ancient majestic fortress, Alanya attracts tourists not only in summer but also in winter.
It is still unknown who and when founded the modern city of Alanya. The oldest known name of the city was Korakesium. During the Byzantine period it was called Kalanoros.

To date, there is little reliable information about the early history and the Byzantine period of the region. It is known that in the 7th century A.D. the city had to defend itself against the Arabs, for this reason the fortification of the citadel was of paramount importance. In this regard, many forts and churches in and around Alanya date back to the 6th and 7th centuries AD.

The Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I vanquished the Christian ruler of Alanya, Cyrus Vart, in 1221 and conquered the fortress. The sultan built a palace for himself at the site. The Seljuks used Alanya as their second capital after Konya and as a winter residence and paid attention to the development of the city.
In Alanya, remnants of the ancients are intermingled with modern urban life. Stylish modern hotels and ancient mosques, large shopping malls and the ruins of the old city, nightclubs and cobblestone streets – it all comes together.