Alanya Castle

Overview

From the beaches of Alanya, the eye always comes back to the same place: a great rock headland rising straight out of the sea, crowned with walls and towers. At sunset, the walls glow gold, and from the top, the whole coast curves away below. This is Alanya Castle, the fortress of a Seljuk sultan on the Turkish Riviera.

A Fortress on the Rock

The headland rises 250 m (820 ft) from the Mediterranean and is protected by the sea on three sides, so people have fortified it for more than two thousand years. After Alexander the Great, Hellenistic rulers built the first walls, and in 137 BC a new castle and port were completed. For a time, the town, then called Coracesium, was a refuge of pirates, until Pompey ended their rule.

Alaeddin’s castle

In 1221, the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Kayqubad I took the town from its Armenian lord and renamed it Alaiye, after himself. Later, he also built a summer palace inland, the Kubadabad Palace on Lake Beyşehir. In Alanya, he rebuilt the fortress on top of the old Byzantine and Roman walls. Under the Seljuks, Alanya became the winter capital of the sultanate and a busy port for trade with Egypt and the Italian cities. Much later, in 1935, its name was written in the new alphabet as Alanya.

What to See at Alanya Castle

The walls and towers

First, walk the walls. They run for about 6.5 km (4 miles) around the headland, with some 140 towers. Some 400 cisterns once stored water for the defenders.

Villages inside the walls

Next, wander the old quarters within the walls. In the 19th century, after the castle lost its military role, Ottoman families built villas here, many of which still stand among gardens and pines. Look also for the Süleymaniye Mosque and its caravanserai, and for a Byzantine church that the town has restored.

The inner citadel and the view

Finally, climb to the inner citadel at the top. From the walkways and viewing platform, you look out over the harbor, the Red Tower, the beaches and the Taurus Mountains.

Alanya Castle’s Lighthouse, Shipyard and Museum

At the tip of the headland, the lighthouse dates from 1720. On the harbor side, the Seljuk shipyard stayed in use until the 1960s and now holds the Ship and Maritime Museum, beside the 33 m (108 ft) Red Tower of 1226. The inner castle is an open-air museum that opens every day and offers an audio guide; its entrance is on Kale Caddesi in the Hisariçi quarter.

How to Visit Alanya Castle

The castle crowns the headland in the center of Alanya. It lies about 125 km (78 miles) from Antalya Airport and 40 km (25 miles) from Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport. The inner citadel is a ticketed open-air museum that opens every day. A cable car runs up from beside Cleopatra Beach, and lanes climb through the old quarters. We arrange your entry to the castle on our Alanya day. Since 2000, Alanya has been on Türkiye’s UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List. With the Red Tower, the cave and the beach, see our Alanya castle tour.

At the foot of the headland, see the Red Tower and the Tersane, the Seljuk shipyard. For the whole resort, read our guide to Alanya, and for nearby ancient sites, visit Side and Aspendos.