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After getting more than 1000 votes for the previous 3 articles in my Introducing Turkey series, now it’s time to continue with Mediterranean Region.

I'd like to mention first that this series of articles aims to introduce natural beauties and rich cultural heritage of my beautiful country. There are some trolls asking about the Greek or Roman history of the region. We have no shame or discomfort about this. On the contrary, we are proud to be living on this excellent piece of world that many civilizations have claimed home and each article explains about the former civilizations that have reigned here.



Mediterranean Region, located on the southern part of Turkey, is named after the sea adjacent to it. The region is in the form of a strip with a width varying between 120 to 180 km. It covers approximately 15 percent of Turkey with a surface area of 120,000 km2.

Mediterranean Region, especially due to the natural and historical assets around the Gulf of Antalya, is not only the most important tourist center in the region, but in the whole of Turkey as well.

Below are the main cities and attractions of the region.


Antalya

Known as the “Tourism Capital of Turkey”, with more than 11 million international tourists in 2011, Antalya is the center of Turkish Riviera with beautiful beaches, verdant mountains, and a mind-blowing number of ancient ruins.


Marina and Kaleiçi (Old Town)


Surrounding the shores of the Gulf of Antalya there are various holiday villages and hotels with modern and extremely developed architecture that respect the environment


Karain Cave, the largest cave in Turkey to have been inhabited.


Kurşunlu Waterfall


Manavgat Waterfall


Antalya Beach Park, with many attractions including an aquapark


Aspendos Amphitheater


Temple of Apollo


Rafting in Köprülü Kanyon


Below are the highlights of this beautiful city.


Kaleiçi (Old Town)

The old quarter, Kaleiçi, has narrow, winding streets enclosed in ancient city walls, which now protect the peaceful quarter from the noise of the concrete metropolis of a million people. Almost half of the houses in Kaleiçi are pensions today, with remaining houses serving as souvenir shops and bars/cafes.


One of the streets in Kaleiçi


Hadrian's Gate, one of the gates on the walls of Kaleiçi


Düden Waterfalls

Düden Waterfalls are a group of waterfalls, formed by the Düden River, located 12 km north-east of Antalya. The river ends where the limpid waters of the Lower Düden Falls drop off a rocky cliff directly into the Mediterranean Sea in a dazzling show.


Upper Düden Falls


Lower Düden Falls


Sandland

Antalya Sandland is a mega exhibition of sand sculptures, considered one of the largest sand events in the world, by the size of its sculptures and the area they occupy.


Sculpture of Ice Age

Every year, a different theme is selected and new sculptures are made by artist from all over the world. This year’s theme was Hollywood movies.


View at night



Antalya Piyazı
Piyaz (a type of salad made of boiled white beans, tomatoes, pepper, onions, boiled eggs, olive oil, vinegar) is eaten everywhere in Turkey, but people in Antalya add tahin (sesame seed paste) to this mixture, making it a unique local taste.



Yanık dondurma (Burnt ice cream)
Another local taste, this ice cream looks similar to ordinary ice cream, however the smell and taste of it is quite different. It is made of local goat milk, and this milk is burnt on purpose during preparation, that gives the ice cream its unique flavor.


Kaş

Kaş, one of the southernmost points in Turkey, is a small town with many decent hotels and restaurants. It is a bustling centre for adventure activity holidays.


A street in Kaş


Sunken city of Kekova


Stunning Kaputaş Beach


Kaş is a diver’s heaven with many wrecks and a crowded underwater life


Kalkan

Kalkan is an enchanting, historic town and one of the most beautiful locations along Turkey's gorgeous Lycian Coast. There is an absence of mass tourism, and it remains a charming and unspoiled haven with brilliant blue crystal-clear sea, historic architecture, ancient history and warm traditional Turkish hospitality.




Patara Ancient City and Patara Beach


View of the partially restored main street of Patara, a flourishing maritime and commercial ancient city


Patara beach, near the ancient city of Patara in Turkey, is the longest beach in its region (18 km) and sometimes reaches a width of 200–300 metres. The beach has soft sand and shallow sea. It is one of the places that Caretta Caretta sea turtles leave their eggs. Because of this, the beach is under protection.


Demre

Demre is the town where St Nicholas ("real" Santa Claus) lived. Ancient name of the town is Myra.


Lycian rock tombs at ancient city of Myra


Santa Claus Monument

The main attraction of the town is the church of St Nicholas, a native of the town during the days of Myra (late 3rd/early 4th century), later on whom the "Santa Claus" is based on as he had a reputation for giving presents secretly.


Inside St. Nicholas Church


Çıralı

An isolated Mediterranean beach and flames that mysteriously burn from the side of a mountain are some of the attractions of Çıralı.


The beach at Çıralı is protected from development because sea turtles come onto shore every year to lay their eggs.


Yanartaş (flaming rock) is the site of dozens of small fires which burn constantly from vents in the rocks on the side of the mountain. The fires are grouped over an area of 5000 m2 and are fueled by gas emissions which have been burning for at least 2500 years Directly below the fires are the ruins of the temple of Hephaistos, the Greek god who was associated with fire through his role as the blacksmith to the gods.


Olympos

Olympos (Olimpos) is a string of pensions and tourist activities strung along a narrow road on the bottom of a valley just inland from coastal Roman ruins, right next to Çıralı. It might be generously labelled a "village".


Accommodation in Treehouses


Sarcophagi at the ruins of Olympos


Kemer

Kemer is a seaside resort 40 km west of Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera. Until the early 1980s this was a quiet rural district but today the town of Kemer and coastal villages in the district play a very important part in tourism in Turkey




Ruins in Phaselis, an ancient Lycian city


Saklıkent



Despite Antalya’a warm weather throughout the year, Saklıkent, only 45 km away from Antalya city center, is a winter sports resort. On some days of the year, you may swim in the crystal waters of Mediterranean and ski in Saklıkent, or vice versa within one hour.


These girls forgot to change their clothes for skiing 🙂


Alanya



Alanya, formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort city. The Mediterranean climate, natural attractions, and historic heritage makes Alanya a popular destination for tourism, and responsible for nine percent of Turkey's tourism sector and thirty percent of foreign purchases of real estate in Turkey.


Alanya Castle


Damlataş Cave
Used for treatment of patients with asthma, this cave in Alanya was accidentally discovered after a dynamite explosion to open a stone quarry during the building of the harbor.


There are many stalactites and stalagmites in the cave



Adana

Lying a fair distance away from the Mediterranean coast, in the center of huge Cilician Plains and on the banks of Seyhan River, Adana is one of the most populated cities in Turkey with a population of over 1.5 million.




Taşköprü, the icon of the city

Adana lies in the heart of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay. Home to approximately six million people, the region is mostly a large stretch of flat, fertile land regarded as one of the most agriculturally productive areas of the world.


Ulucami, Great Mosque, from 16th century


Rowhouses of Tepebağ


A local derby, between Adana Demirspor and Adanaspor.


Adana kebabı is a long, hand-minced meat kebab mounted on a wide iron skewer and grilled over braizing charcoals.


Şalgam is a popular local beverage of Adana, made of the juice of red carrot pickles, salted, spiced, and flavoured with aromatic turnip, fermented in barrels with the addition of ground bulgur. (cracked wheat)


Bici Bici
This local dessert is made from jellied starch, rose water and sugar. It is served with crushed ice, and consumed especially in summer time.




Mersin

Mersin is Turkey's sixth most populous city and a busy port on the Mediterranean coast of Southern Turkey.




The city will host the 2013 Mediterranean Games


Kızkalesi (Maiden’s Castle)



Kızkalesi (Maiden’s Castle) is a quite big and well-preserved castle built on an island off the shore. Story has it that a powerful king built the castle in the middle of the sea to protect his beloved daughter from death after hearing a prophecy told by a fortuneteller, but a snake had found its way to the castle (inside a basket of fruits) and, had bitten and killed the princess (quite the same myth with the one of Maiden’s Tower in İstanbul, as you may have read in this article).




Heaven and Hell Chasms



Heaven and Hell are two chasms located very closely, near the small fishing village Narlıkuyu. They are cultic places since prehistoric times.


Heaven
Of the two chasms which were formed when ceilings of two underground caves collapsed, this bigger one resembles a green, peaceful heaven with evergreen shrubs and trees growing on its bottom. It is possible to reach the bottom, which also has ruins of a monastery, by climbing down 452 steps of ancient stairs.


Hell
200 meters north of Heaven; this chasm is a post-apocalyptic abyss full of sharp stalagmites when compared with Heaven, the bottom of this 78-metre deep pit is, however, full of deep green -even emerald green- plants which look even more peaceful and exotic than Heaven's. This was where Zeus was believed to imprison Typhon in ancient times. Unlike Heaven, it is not possible to go down into the Hell, with only a balcony-like viewing area hanging over the cliff of the pit.



Tantuni, finely minced fried meat and onion wrap, is one of the most famous food in this region.


Cezerye, a local dessert, is a mix of carrots and fig and lots of spices. It may contain nuts or pistachio.


Anamur

Anamur is a city in the very south of Turkey, only a few kilometres away from Turkey’s southernmost point. Beşparmak (The Pentadactylos) mountain range of Cyprus, 40 miles off-shore, is visible from Anamur on clear days.


Mamure Castle
Dating back to Roman times and later used by Crusaders and Seljuks, this is one of the most scenic castles in Turkey.


Anamur is Turkey’s main banana producing region



Hatay

Hatay is a province in southeastern part of Mediterranean Region, bordering Syria. This city was an important centre of early Christianity, with some of the first non-hidden churches. Today it’s a truly multicultural place, where you can hear prayers in many different tongues. Many sects of Christianity (Greek Orthodoxy, Syriac Christianity, Roman Catholicism, Protestantism to name a few) and Islam (Sunni and Alawi), as well as Judaism, are all represented with their dedicated temples in Antakya.


Logo of the city, showing the city’s multi-religious structure

Antakya, also known as Antioch — the provincial capital; a riverside city with a great Mosaic Museum and the hub for sites of early Christianity in the surrounding countryside


Antakya Museum houses world's second-largest collection of Roman mosaics


St. Pierre Church, world’s first rock-carved church


İskenderun

İskenderun is one of the few still-existing cities in the world which was founded by, and indeed gets its name from Alexander the Great, with Alexandria in Egypt being the other notable example.



İskenderun today has a population of about 300,000 people and is an industrialized city, surrounded by petrochemical plants and steelworks, although the city centre is still enjoyable with its lovely palm-lined promenade on the shore of the sea.


Künefe is a dessert completely unique to the arabic influented areas of Turkey. It’s oven baked shredded pastry with salt-free cheese filling in thick syrup.


Zahter Salad is a local taste, with fresh wild thyme, onions, olives, red pepper, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil, etc…


That is all for now. See you in my next article...

Previous articles:
Beautiful İzmir
İstanbul, Capital of the World
Central Anatolia, Cradle of Civilizations



Next article: Marmara Region



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