Antalya

Antalya (from Greek: Aττάλεια, "Attalia") is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. It was the world's third most visited city by number of international arrivals in 2011, displacing New York, and had a population of 1,001,318 . Antalya is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.


Tourism in Antalya


Kaleiçi, with its narrow cobbled streets of historic Ottoman era houses, is the old center of Antalya. With its hotels, bars, clubs, restaurants, and shopping, it has been restored to retain much of its historical character; its restoration has won the Golden Apple Tourism Prize. Cumhuriyet Square, the main square of the city, is the location for temporary open air exhibitions and performances. The city also features sites with traces of Lycian, Pamphylian, and Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman architecture and cultures. International luxury hotels stand along the coast above the Konyaalti and Lara beaches.


Main sights
Antalya has beaches including Konyaaltı, Lara and Karpuzkaldıran. For winter sports, Beydağları and Saklikent are both natural beauties of the city.
There are a number of mosques, churches, madrasahs, masjids, hans (caravanserai) and hamams (Turkish bath) in the city. Kaleiçi, the harbor, which the city walls enclose, is the oldest part of the city. Kaleiçi features many historic houses with traditional Turkish and local Greek architecture.


Historic sites in the city center


The Atatürk Monument at Cumhuriyet Meydanı (Republic Square.)
Kaleiçi: the historical center of the city.
Ancient monuments include the City Walls, Hıdırlık Tower, Hadrian's Gate (also known as Triple Gate), and the Clock Tower.
Hadrian's Gate: constructed in the 2nd century by the Romans in honor of the Emperor Hadrian.
İskele Mosque: A 19th century Mosque near the Marina.
Karatay Medrese: A Medrese (Islamic theological seminary) built in 1250 by Emir Celaleddin Karatay.
Kesik Minare (Broken Minaret) Mosque: Once a Roman temple then converted to a Byzantine Panaglia church and finally into a mosque.
Tekeli Mehmet Paşa Mosque: A 18th century Mosque built in honor of Tekeli Mehmet Paşa.
Yat Limanı: the harbour dating to Roman era.
Yivli Minare (Fluted Minaret) Mosque: Built by the Seljuks and decorated with dark blue and turquoise tiles, this minaret eventually became the symbol of the city.


Economy


The Roman era clock tower and the 18th century Tekeli Mehmet Paşa Mosque in the city center (before the pedestrianization in 2008.)
The economy of Antalya used to depend on a mixture of tourism, agriculture, and commerce, with some light industry. Agricultural production includes citrus fruits, cotton, cut flowers, olives, olive oil and bananas. Antalya Metropolitan Municipality’s covered wholesale food market complex meets 65% of the fresh fruit and vegetable demand of the province.
Since 2000, shipyards have been opened in Antalya Free Zone, specialized in building pleasure yachts. Some of these yards have advanced in composites boat building technology.
Corendon Airlines and SunExpress have their head offices in Antalya.