Antalya - Just another city...

Antalya, the gateway to the Mediterranean region of Turkey, was our next stop after Cappadocia. We had read it was a must see city with a spectacular cliff top setting and a quaint walled quarter, but unfortunately we disagree and in our personal opinions, think that Antalya is one of those cities you can leave out of your itinerary, especially if you are pressed for time in Turkey. Why?? Because Antalya is just that, another city with office towers and shops lining the streets and there is not an awful lot to see except for a couple of historical sights. The fact that the city is surrounded by beautiful scenery (mountains, beaches and seaside setting) and is a good place to stay as a base for smaller trips to neighboring historical cities such as Termessos, Perge, Aspendos and Side is probably why it seems to be a tourist magnet but in our personal opinion, it was a stop we didn’t have to necessarily make as visiting these other sites were not in our planned itinerary.

Nonetheless, we stayed for one night (all you need as you can see the main highlights of the city in one afternoon, unless of course you are planning to visit some of the other areas listed above) at Hotel Urcu for 45 liras a night ($34 CDN) which included breakfast. The hotel was in the old quarter of Antalya and was small and quaint. It had an outdoor swimming pool and was in a central location. We did manage to see some of the most important remains of the city including the Roman city walls, the imposing Hadrian’s Gate and our favorite, the Antalya Archaeological Museum.

We spent the afternoon walking to the above sights as everything is within walking distance. We wandered through the streets of the Old Quarter (where you can easily get lost as there are no street signs and the streets wind in and out and around one another it seems) where most of the hotels and pensions could be found along with locals selling their handicrafts and small restaurants and cafes. Along the way, we came across Hadrian’s Gate, built to honor the visit of Emperor Hadrian in AD 130. The interesting part of this historic remain was that for years, it was encased in the Seljuk city wall and was only uncovered recently in the 1950’s. Other historic landmarks close by were the Clock Tower which marks the upper limit of the Old Town and long ago was a part of the city’s defensive system and the Fluted Minaret which is a 13th century minaret which has become known as the symbol of Antalya.

Hadrian’s Gate found in the Old Quarter

Clock Tower

Famous landmark of Antalya with a view of the mountains in the background

We carried on our walk 2 km west of the city centre towards the Museum and stopped along the way to see the old harbour which still shows remains of the Roman city walls and views of the glistening water and mountains. The one thing we did enjoy the most about Antalya was their archaeological museum. Although it is not very large, it housed the most unique collection of Roman marble sculptures I have seen which date back to the 2nd century AD. The Gallery of the Gods and the Sarcophagus (Coffin) Hall are also highlights to see due to the fine detailing and condition of these ancient remains.

Yacht harbour built around the old city walls

A nice shot along the way…

At the museum – amazing how they could reconstruct this sculpture using pieces dating back to the 2nd century AD

Having an up close and personal look

Fine exterior details on many of the various coffins in this part of the museum

We ended the day with a great dinner at a local restaurant where once again we were faced with ordering from a menu which we could not understand as it was all in Turkish. We decided to be adventurous and pointed at menu items that didn’t sound familiar and something we had not tried thus far in Turkey and ended up being happily surprised as the food was fantastic.

Our next stop is Olympos, where we look forward to staying at one of the many rustic tree houses which is known for this area. Can’t wait to see what this area has to offer besides the different sleeping accommodations….