Driving east from Antalya and Side on the D-400 coastal road, you'll enter a more mountainous region called "Rough Cilicia" in ancient times because of its rugged terrain. Banana plantations and fruit orchards will welcome you along the highway, since the area where Alanya is situated is the only place in Turkey where bananas are grown. You'll soon notice the Alanya fortress, which juts both seaward and skyward on a coastal promontory.
Because of it's strategically advantageous geography, especially the high promontory which juts out into the sea, Alanya has been home to civilizations including the Ptolemaic, Seleucid, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, and Ottoman empires. In recorded history, Alanya came to prominence under the Seljuks, when the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum under Alaeddin Keykubad I, built it into a fortified city, as well as a center of trade and culture. At that time the city was re-named Alaiye, or "Ala's city," after the Sultan.
No comments:
Post a Comment