Alanya Castle

The Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I took the rock peninsula in the 1220s and made it a winter capital, and the fortifications he built still run for kilometres around the headland, following every ledge. Down at sea level the octagonal Kizil Kule, a red brick tower of 1226, guards the old harbour, and beside it a vaulted shipyard of five bays opens directly onto the water so hulls could be launched from the shade. Inside the walls a small village of houses, cisterns, a mosque and a bedesten sits among gardens, with the shell of a Byzantine chapel further up. From the top the coast runs away on both sides and the beaches look like a map.

What you actually see

• Kizil Kule - the octagonal red brick tower above the old harbour.
• The shipyard - five vaulted bays cut into the rock at the waterline.
• The inner citadel - walls, cisterns and the view over both bays.
• The walled village - houses, gardens and a small mosque inside the ramparts.

When to go

Spring and autumn are ideal, and the season here runs late into November. Climb early or ride the cable car and walk down; midday on the exposed walls in summer is punishing. Sunset from the citadel is the reason to stay late, but the last cable car leaves before dusk in some months.

Honest expectations

It is a long, steep climb if you walk, and the site is spread out enough that seeing it properly takes half a day and a lot of stairs. Sections of wall have unfenced drops. The town below is a package resort with the noise that implies, and parts of the castle are periodically closed for restoration.

Nearby

The Damlatas cave, the harbour boat trips and the coast road towards Gazipasa.