TurkishALANYA CASTLE
Alanya Castle, lying on Kandeleri Hill with the maturity and tranquility of centuries ago, is the only Seljuk castle that has been preserved to our time. In 1225, a new castle was built by the Anatolian Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat in place of the Roman castle ruins. This castle, which gained importance during the Alaiye Beys period, was taken by the Ottomans in 1471. The castle, surrounded by three rows of walls with 83 towers and 140 bastions, consists of inner and outer castle sections. The castle, consisting of Ayayorgi Church, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Mosque, Akşabe Sultan Tomb, Seljuk Bath, Arasta, Bedesten, Sitti Zeynep Tomb, Sultan Alaaddin Palace, large and small cisterns, a lighthouse, a cavalcade and a dungeon, is a complex historical treasure.
Ayayorgi Church
Ayayorgi Church, located in the inner castle, was built in A.D. It is a small church that is thought to have been built in the 6th century and has preserved its main feature until today. When its religious importance increased, it was converted into a bishopric over time, and traces of frescoes can be found in the church.
Akşabe Sultan Mosque and Tomb
It is understood from the remaining parts of the tomb built for Akşabe Sultan in 1230 that its apse is tiled, the exterior of the mosque is made of cut stone, and the interior and dome are made of bricks.
Alaaddin Mosque
The work, known as Kale Mosque and Sultan Süleyman Mosque, was built by Sultan Alaaddin in 1231, is a mosque with rubble stone walls, cut stones are used in the structure of the dome drum, and the interior sits on an octagonal dome drum. 15 small jars were placed on the part of the dome that serves as a hanger to provide acoustics. The door and 14 window covers of the mosque are among the most beautiful examples of Ottoman period carving work.
Emir Bedrüddin (Andızlı) Mosque
This mosque, which takes its name from the andız tree located right next to it, was built in 1277. Next to it is a not-so-high minaret built with its own architecture. The pulpit is important as it is the most beautiful example of carving art.
Alaaddin Keykubat Palace
There are ruins of this palace, built on the highest point of the inner castle, covered with tiles.
Seljuk Bath
It is a single-domed and eight-sided structure made of red brick and mortar, next to the bastions to the east of the inner castle, thought to have been built by Alaaddin Keykubat. It has a small room covered with a vault with a dome measuring 5m in diameter, and its water is understood to have been brought from the large cistern in the inner castle through pipes. It is a monument to the importance the Seljuks gave to cleanliness and health.
Bedesten and Arasta
It is thought that the Arasta, built by the Karamanids in the 14th or 15th century and located southwest of the Kale Mosque, was used as an inn.
Cisterns
It has been determined that 420 cisterns were built in Alanya, which is mentioned as the city of cisterns in Evliya Çelebi’s Travelogue, to meet the water needs of the people living in and around the castle. The most important of these is the Mecduddin Cistern, which is 22.5 m long and 13 m wide, between the Akşabe Sultan Mosque and the Bedesten. It is one of the beautiful examples of the importance the Seljuk Turks gave to infrastructure as well as architecture.
Lighthouse
The lighthouse, built by Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa in 1720 at the southern end of the castle, on the slope that slopes down steeply to the sea, still serves its purpose today with its two buildings.
Sitti Zeynep Tomb
The tomb, which is located on the road from the Damlataş Cave to the castle and is thought to have remained from the Seljuk period, belongs to a saint named Sitti Zeynep and is visited by those who come to Alanya and Alanya.
Adam Atacak
It is a place where there is a dungeon 15 meters deep on a 250-meter cliff to the northeast of the castle. According to one story, “In the Byzantine period, two criminals were made to wrestle here and the defeated one was thrown into the sea by his opponent, the other criminal was taken out of the dungeon here after a while and given a last chance, and if he dropped one of the three stones given to him into the sea, he was forgiven, and if he could not manage, he was put in a sack and thrown onto rocks or into the sea with a catapult.” In this place, where it is very difficult to make the thrown stone fall into the sea due to air currents and gravity, the tradition of making a wish and throwing stones continues today, which stems from this story. What do you think? Maybe your wish will come true, if you try.
Red Tower
This solid tower, which dominates the port part of the city, is named after the dark red stones. It was built in 1226 during the reign of Alaaddin Keykubat on the site of an old castle ruin left by Cilician pirates. The tower is a unique example of Anatolian building art with its location, plan, construction technique and inscriptions. The gate inscription of the tower, which has three inscriptions, states that it is the work of Ebu Ali Reha El Kettani from Aleppo, who built Sinop Castle. The other two inscriptions praise Alaaddin Keykubat. Each wall of the octagonal tower is 12.5 m wide and 33 m high. The tower, which consists of two open and three closed floors in total, is reached by 85 very wide and high steps. The tower, which is the guard of the shipyard, underwent a radical remodeling between 1951-1953.