history of Alanya castle

history of alanya castle is connected with the history of the city itself. because the city has changed hands many times over the centuries,and so did the alanya castle. it was owned by the conqueror of the city.

alanya castle lies on the rocky peninsula jutting into the sea. because this peninsula is difficult to be reach by the land or sea therefore it is easy to defend. for many centuries the alanya castle has been home for human settlement.


the first time in the hellenistic period, the top of the peninsula was furnished with a defensive wall. in subsequent centuries, additions were made. the last being the magnificent castle that we can see today which was built by the seljuks.

the city was known as korakesion (coracesium) in ancient times. until the 2nd century BC it retained its independence in the face of numerous attacks. it was survive by the strengt of the geographic situation.

by the 2nd century BC the city was ruled by one diodotos tryphon. the part of defensive wall in the middle sector that stretches from the shrine of arap evliyasi to the ehmedek is thought to date from the reign of tryphon. it is easily distinguishable by the size of the stone blocks and its mortar-less construction.

by the 1st century BC the city had become a pirate haven. it was taken by the romans under the leadership of pompei in 65 BC.

the history of korakesion in the byzantine period is largerly unknown. we don't know that the city in this era became knows as kolonoros (beautiful mountain). some structures still survive from the byzantine period. these are the 11th century church in the citadel, the church called arap evliyasi. a monastery near the tip of civarda point and round towers that run in a line towards the citadel in the middle sector of the castle.

in the 13th century AD the city was in the hands of a christian named kir fard who gave it to seljuk sultan alaadin keykubad in exchange for the governorship of akşehir. under the seljuks alanya began its most resplendent era.

the city took a new name alaiye after the name of seljuk sultan who acquired it and it continued to be called alaiyye until the time of the turkish republic ataturk change its name to be alanya.

with the collapse of the seljuk dynasty, control of alanya passed to the karamanoğlu dynasty in 1293. there are buildings with inscriptions in alanya that date to this period. in 1427 the city was sold to the egyptian mamluk dynasty for 5000 pieces of gold.

in 1471 alanya became a part of the ottoman empire when it was conquered by gedik ahmet paşa. the suleymnaiye mosque and bedesten in the castle are important remains from the ottoman period.

the oldest known inscription in the castle dates to 1226 and 1232.

the top of the castle has many examples of urban civil and religious architecture with mosque churches, cistern, market buildings, baths, etc.

alanya castle is also notable for preserved examples of domestic architecture from the late 19th and 20th centuries. the wall stretch 6500 meters and have 140 towers. the wall and towers have chemins de ronde for the easy movement of the troops. in addition, towers were furnished with crenellations and loopholes.

different sectors of three major wall sectors: the outer, middle and inner sectors. the outer sector stretches up the hill, from the red tower to the ehmedek and the arap evliyasi tower and then again back down towards the sea. it contains such important seljuk period buildings as the red tower, the shipyard and tophane tower.

the middle sector runs between the wall of arap evliyasi tower and the citadel (içkale) in the middle sector are the aksebe turbesi (tomb) a bathhouse and the ehmedek, a small landward citadel all dating from the seljuk period the suleymaniye mosque and bedesten from the ottoman period and the late Byzantine chapel known as arap evliyasi.

the citadel is located on the highest point of the peninsula at its southeast. it was the last refuge and strong-point for the entire castle. as such it always seems to have had a military character. it contains many structures including a palace belonging to the sultan or other important personage barracks depots and cistern from the seljuk period an 11th century byzantine church and a cistern with the colorful name of adamatacağı "hurling place"