Alanya's Story

Alanya is built on a small peninsula with the Taurus Mountains in the north and the Mediterranean Sea in the south. Since it was on the line between Pamphylia and Cilicia in ancient times, it was sometimes counted among the cities of Cilicia and sometimes Pamphylia. Due to its geography, Cilicia includes two separate regions. The east of Cilicia is "Plain Cilicia (Kilizian Pedias), and the west" is Rough Cilicia (Kilizian Tracheic). The word Cilicia was first used in BC. It is referred to as "Calaka" in 16th century Hittite texts. In the 15th century BC, Egyptian and Assyrian sources refer to Plain Cilicia as "Qedi" and "Que", and Rough Cilicia as "Clalaka". Mountainous Cilicia is a region formed by the steep, deep cliffs of the Taurus Mountains reaching the sea, without large plains and large bays that could be a harbor. This was an important factor in the development of cities. Among the cities of Mountainous Cilicia; Coracesion (Alanya), Laertes (Gözüçuklu), Syedra (Seki), Iotape (Uğrak) and Hamaxia (Elikesik) are located.

The word Pamphylia is of Greek origin and comes from the combination of the words "Pan-Cok" and "Fyle-Soja" and means "land where all tribes live together". Cities such as Side, Aspendos and Perge in the Pamphylia region were established in areas with fertile wide plains surrounded by mountains suitable for urban development and coves suitable for the berthing of large commercial and military ships. It is not yet known when and by whom Alanya was first established. The oldest known name of the city is "Coracesium". It literally consists of the Latin words "korax-crow" and cesium-sky, meaning "thunder". It was called "Calanoros", meaning "beautiful mountain" during the Byzantine period. In the 13th century, when the Anatolian Seljuk ruler I. Alaaddin Keykubat (1220-1237) took the castle, the name of the city was changed to "Alaiyye", referring to the name of the ruler.

Documents describing the historical periods of Alanya and its surroundings are very limited today. Research conducted by Professor Doctor Kılıc Kokten in Kadıını Cave in 1957 shows that the history of the region dates back to the Upper Paleolithic Age (20,000-17,000 BC). As a result of the latest research carried out in the same cave, sherds belonging to the Old Bronze Age (3000-2000) were also found. This shows that Alanya and the Old Bronze Age were under siege.

In the 4th century BC, the region came under the rule of the Persians, who occupied a significant part of Anatolia. No significant remains belonging to the Persian period have yet been identified. However, the city walls under the Seljuk walls in the Ehmedek region of the Alanya Castle belong to this period and were made of cyclopean stones. Later, Strabo (63 BC - 25 AD), one of the important historians of the ancient age, mentions this region in his book "Geographika" and describes it as a steep place. In addition, Pir-i Reis, Seyyah İbn-i Batuta and Evliya Celebi are also travelers who have visited the region and described the city in their works.

The people who lived in the old days of harsh Cilicia were silent while the central government was in power, and as it weakened, it took on its old barbaric identity. Hence, Rough Cilicia shows groups in its possession both in geographic and social development from present-day Plain Cilicia and Pamphylia.

One of the Anatolian Seljuk rulers, 1st Alaaddin Keykubat built madrasahs, inns, hunting lodges, palaces and castles in cities like Konya, Sivas, Kayseri and Antalya, especially in cities like Konya, Sivas, Kayseri and Antalya.

The Sultan made his first voyage to Kalanoros (Alanya), which is of great commercial importance, to the port of Konya. At that time, there was a Christian dynasty named Kyr Vart at the head of Kalanoros. Trying to protect the city from land and sea, Kyr Vart realized that it was impossible to defend and could not resist the Seljuk power. He also appointed his daughter Huand Hatun as a wife to the sultan. Huand Hatun changed her religion and took the name "Mah-Peri Sultan". The city, which was called "Alaiyye" in the name of the sultan, experienced its prosperity during his reign, was the scene of the second major construction activities and was used as a winter center in the capital city of Konya. At that time, many scholars and artists settled in the city and it became the cultural and commercial center of Alaiyye in a short time.

After Alaaddin Keykubat, the golden age of the city came to an end. The Seljuks were worn out by the Mongol attacks in 1243, the Egyptian Mamluks entering Anatolia in 1277 and the struggle for the throne. Alanya, which was sold to the Mamluk Sultan in 1427 by the Karamanoğulları in exchange for five thousand gold mines, went to the border of the Ottoman Empire in 1471 during the reign of Fatih Sultan Mehmet. Alanya, together with Tarsus, became a network affiliated to the Province of Cyprus in 1571 and to the Province of Konya in 1864. In 1868, it became a part of Antalya, and in 1871 this province became an accident. Alanya has attracted the attention of societies throughout history with its natural resources and natural beauties, as it is difficult to reach the sea and land. For this reason, it is one of the rare cities in Anatolia that has been inhabited uninterruptedly until today.

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