For lovers of well-preserved Roman architecture Qasr Bashir is certainly a hidden gem. Standing within the solid walls of Qasr Bashir, you will certainly be able to feel the living history of life on the edge of the Roman Empire.

Amongst its ruins, Aizanoi has five ancient and still used bridges, two Turkish-style baths, column-lined promenades, a stadium, a gymnasium, a theatre and its great Temple of Zeus.

History of Aizanoi

Aizanoi was an Ancient Greek city in western Anatolia. Located astride the River Penkalas, some 1000m above sea level, the city was an important political and economic centre in Roman times.

Settlement in the area is known from the Bronze Age. It changed hands between the Kingdoms of Pergamum and Bithynia, finally being bequeathed to Rome in 133 BC. Aizanoi’s monumental buildings date from the early Empire to the 3rd century.

Aizanoi became a Christian bishopric, with its bishop, Pisticus, being a participant at the First Countil of Nicaea in 325. The former city is no longer a bishopric, and is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

After the 7th century, Aizanoi fell into decline. Later, during Seljuk times, the temple hill was repurposed as a citadel.

The ruins of the city were discovered in 1824 by European travellers. Survey work in the 1830s and 40s was followed by thorough and systematic excavation conducted by the German Archaeological Institute from 1926.

This excavation was resumed in 1970, and is still ongoing, with archaeologists in January 2021 announcing that they have discovered a cache of 2,100-year-old Roman coins in a jug buried near a stream.

In 2012, the site was submitted for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Aizanoi Today

Today, visitors can see the Temple of Zeus, which is situated prominently on a hill and was the city’s main sanctuary. Construction of the temple began under Emperor Domitian.

A theatre and stadium are built adjacent to each other, with their being combined into one complex being a feature that is unique in the ancient world.

There are also two baths – or ‘thermae’ – one which includes a palaestra and marble furnishings, and the other which contains a mosaic depicting a satyr and a maenad.

The remains of Aizanoi’s market, which features a circular macellum, is famed for being the first recorded place in the world where inflation was calculated. Recent excavations have also revealed the existence of a stoa, or covered walkway, and a large necropolis includes examples of door-shaped Phrygian tombstones.

In 2012 the site was submitted for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Getting to Aizanoi

Though Aizanoi is well off the tourist beaten track, locals are friendly and happy to guide interested travellers round all of the historic sites of the historic site.

From the nearby city of Kutahya, Aizanoi is reachable in around 45 minutes by car along the Kütahya Uşak Yolu/D240.

Driving from Istanbul to Kutahya takes around 4 hours and 15 minutes, primarily along the Bursa Eskişehir Yolu/D200/E90.

History of Alanya Castle

The origins of the city today known as Alanya date back thousands of years. References to the ancient city of Coracesium, the name for the early settlement, can be found from the 4th century BC. During much of antiquity, Alanya notoriously sheltered pirates thanks to its perfectly designed bay and harbour. However, during Pompey the Great’s famous campaign to rid the Mediterranean of pirates, Alanya was the site of an important battle in which the pirates were defeated. For the remainder of the Empire period, the city remained under Roman and subsequently Byzantine control but it was not one of the region’s more prominent settlements during this time.

It wasn’t until 1221 that the city really rose to prominence. After the city’s conquest by the Seljuk Turks, Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat I decided to make Alanya his winter home and the city entered its zenith.

The harbour and port that shielded Sicilian bandits and pirates in the 3rd century BC, referred to as the Tersane (dockyard), was turned into the main naval base of the Seljuk navy; defensive walls were restored and the Red Tower, perhaps the most striking of monuments that remain at the site, was constructed. From then until the 18th century Alanya, incorporated into the Ottoman empire in 1471, became an important port for trading with other Mediterranean countries, particularly Egypt, Syria and Cyprus. Today Alanya is the best preserved dockyard of the Mediterranean basin.

Alanya Castle today

The Red Tower (sometimes referred to as Kizilkule) ranks among the most impressive elements of Alanya Castle and stands 29 meters high. The castle walls start here and pass through the middle battlements (Ehmedek), the Citadel or Inner Castle (Ickale), the Arab Saint bastion (Arap Evliyasi), the Esat bastion, the arsenal (Tophane) and the historic Tersane before finishing once again at the Red Tower.

Inside the Castle walls are a number of interesting buildings and monuments, including the palace of Alaaddin Keykubat, as well as several Mosques (including the 16th century Suleymaniye Mosque) and even a church, proof of the often diverse and tolerant nature of the city.

Opposite the Suleymaniye Mosque is a covered Bazaar or Bedesten, used during the 14th and 15th centuries as a trading base. There are numerous other buildings and fortifications surrounding the Castle, including the Ehmedek, an arsenal and a mint (Darphane), although interestingly not a single coin was minted there. There are also many sea caves that can only be reached by boat. The Citadel, dating to the 6th century, contains a platform that today offers magnificent views of the Mediterranean peninsula.

That Alanya Castle is currently on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list is testament to its diverse and sprawling history. With over 6km of defensive wall reinforced by 140 bastions and 400 cisterns, Alanya was perhaps one of the best-defended cities in the Mediterranean.

Getting to Alanya Castle

Alanya Castle is in the province of Antalya, and lies on Turkey’s southern coast. The town of Alanya lies on the D400, the main coastal road – it’s about an hour to the nearest city, Manavgat. Buses run between the city of Antalya and Alanya semi-regularly: check timetables before travelling.

Inside the Citadel are the remains of Seljuk cisterns, the palace of Sultan Alaaddin Keykubat, the ruins of a Seljuk bath and an 11th century Byzantine church.

Among the attractions of the Citadel is a high platform offering magnificent views of the Mediterranean peninsula and the Taurus Mountains while also concealing a much darker history…

Alanya Citadel history

Most of Alanya Citadel was built in the 13th century under the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm after the city’s conquest by Alaeddin Keykubad in 1220. Part of a building campaign that included the Kizil Kule tower – symbol of the city of Alanya – the castle was built upon remains of earlier Byzantine and Roman fortifications.

The castle, located 250 metres high on a rocky peninsula in the Mediterranean, had a 4 mile-long wall dotted with 140 towers. After the area was conquered and pacified by the Ottomans, the castle stopped being only defensive, and many villas were built inside the walls during the 19th century.

According to legend, the Alanya Citadel’s platform was ominously referred to as the ‘Throwing Platform’, where prisoners condemned to death met their fate. Accordingly, prisoners were given the chance to reprieve themselves if they could throw a stone into the sea without it hitting the cliff.

Unfortunately for the prisoners, this was an impossible feat and many met their end by being tied into a sack and thrown over the edge.

Alanya Citadel today

Open between 8am and 5pm, today Alanya Citadel functions as an open-air museum and although entry is ticketed, much of the area inside the walls including the landward castle is open to the public. It can be a long day walking the entire length of the castle walls, nonetheless, it is rewarding to find symbols or inscriptions along the walls and the views of Cleopatra Beach are well worth the walk.

Getting to Alanya Citadel

Situated up a hill surrounded by blue seas, Alanya Citadel is easily reached by bus number 4 from the centre of Alanya or can be walked to in under an hour.