Alanya Castle

Alanya Castle dominates the rocky promontory that juts into the Mediterranean at the town of Alanya, located approximately 130 kilometres east of Antalya. The fortification complex was constructed primarily by the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I between 1221 and 1226, and Alanya served as the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum's winter capital during this period. The castle system divides the peninsula into three zones — the harbour area at sea level, the middle city (Ehmedek), and the upper citadel — each with its own defensive perimeter. In total the walls run approximately 6.5 kilometres and incorporate 83 towers, making the Alanya fortification one of the most extensive surviving examples of Seljuk military architecture anywhere. The most celebrated individual structure is the Kızılkule (Red Tower), an octagonal fortress tower 33 metres tall, built in 1226 by the Seljuk architect Ebu Ali Reha of Aleppo using local red limestone that gives the tower its name. The Red Tower guarded the entrance to the harbour and the five-vaulted naval dockyard (Tersane) carved into the cliff face below it — one of the very few surviving examples of Seljuk maritime infrastructure in the world. The Red Tower has been restored and now functions as the Alanya Ethnographic Museum, displaying Seljuk period craftsmanship and regional historical objects. Within the upper citadel, the ruins of a Byzantine church, several large cisterns essential to sustaining a besieged garrison, and a small mosque dating from the Seljuk period survive alongside the fortification walls. Views from the upper citadel extend across both the eastern and western bays of Alanya, the town below, and on clear days toward Cyprus. A surviving neighbourhood of traditional Ottoman-era houses occupies the lower section of the fortified zone, some of which remain inhabited. A minibus service from the base of the hill reaches the upper citadel, sparing visitors the 3-kilometre road ascent.