6 Best Sights in The Turquoise Coast, Turkey

Views of the splendid castle or kale, on a mighty crag surrounded on three sides by the sea, dominate all roads into Alanya. The crenellated outer walls are 6½ km (about 4 miles) long and include 140 bastions. The road pierces these outer walls through a modern break, dividing as it heads up the summit. One section leads to the İç Kale (inner fortress), the other to the Ehmedek (garrison); both have places to park. Near the entrance to the Ehmedek are the remains of the original bedestan (bazaar); the old shops around its open courtyard now touting souvenirs. Along a road to the top of the promontory, a ticket office defends the inner keep. Inside are the ruins of a Byzantine church, its 6th-century frescoes of the evangelists faded almost beyond recognition.

The Seljuk sultan Keykubad probably also had a palace here, although discoveries by the McGhee Center of Georgetown University indicates that in times of peace the Seljuk elite likely preferred their pleasure gardens and their hunting and equestrian sports on the well-watered plain below. Steps ascend to the battlement on the summit. A viewing platform is built on the spot where condemned prisoners and women convicted of adultery were once cast to their deaths. The ticket is also valid for the Ehmedek. Admire the ruined monastery down below but do not attempt to descend toward it—the mountainside is very treacherous.

On the eastern edge of town, the highway goes right past Mamure Kalesi—a spectacular castle with 39 towers, first constructed in Roman times to protect the city from seaborne raiders. It was expanded by the Seljuks, who captured it in the 13th century, and later rebuilt by the Karamanoğulları, who controlled this part of Anatolia after the Seljuk Empire collapsed. Note the inscription to the Karamanoğulları prince, İbrahim Bey II, dating from 1450. The place is so impressively preserved you'd think it was a modern reconstruction. As of late 2021, the castle was closed for restorations.

Just off the coast, an island—known to have been settled as early as the 4th century BC—is home to an evocative castle called Kız Kalesi. Several offshore castles in Turkey bear this same name, which is derived from a legend about a king, a princess, and a snake: the beautiful princess, apple of her father's eye, had her fortune read by a wandering soothsayer who declared she would die of a snakebite. The king therefore sent her to a castle on a snake-free island. Destiny, however, can never be avoided, and the offending serpent was accidentally delivered in a basket of grapes sent as a gift from her father's palace.

More prosaically, this particular castle was an important part of the row of defenses built and rebuilt over the centuries to stop invaders from Syria entering Anatolia via the coast route to Antalya. What you see dates mostly from the 11th century and was constructed by Byzantines to keep out Antioch-based Crusaders. Boatmen will offer to take you here, but hiring a paddleboat is the most popular way to explore.

A minor masterpiece of Mediterranean military architecture, the 100-foot-high Kızıl Kule was built by the Seljuks in 1226 to defend Alanya's harbor and the nearby shipyard known as the tersane. Sophisticated technology for the time was implemented by an architect from Aleppo who was familiar with Crusader castle building. The octagonal redbrick structure includes finely judged angles of fire for archers manning the loopholes, cleverly designed stairs to cut attackers off, and a series of troughs to convey boiling tar and melted lead onto besieging forces.

Today, the Red Tower's passages are a cool relief from the summer heat, and the view from the top is captivating. Don't miss taking the short walk south along the fortified sea walls to the tersane, where waves crash into the old shipyard's five workshops, each under a vaulted stone arch. Ships could be pulled up into each for building or repairs, and the cover was likely also useful for storing war supplies. They now contain replica ship hulls and equipment, with explanations about their construction and use.

A modest, crenellated, 16th-century citadel near the Netsel Marina is one of the few historic sites within Marmaris town, and it has splendid views of the city, sea, and mountains. First built by Süleyman the Magnificent, then shelled to bits by the French in the First World War, the castle was rebuilt in the 1980s. A small museum gives context to the region's importance in antiquity with displays of sarcophagi, pottery, and other finds from area archaeological sites such as those at Knidos.

East of Adana, across the Çukurova Plain, there are many ancient remains, including several castles, mostly dating back to Armenian rulers of the 12th to 14th century AD. The easiest to reach, Yılan Kalesi (Castle of the Snake), sits conspicuously beside the old highway, some 50 km (31 miles) east of town. There isn't a lot to see, but the walls are well preserved and the views of the fertile Çukurova Plain from the top are impressive.

About 40 km (25 miles) farther east, just before Osmaniye and the turnoff to İskenderun, is a second Armenian castle, Toprakkale. Kozan, 60 km (37 miles) north of Yılan Kalesi, is another fine castle that was an important residence of the Armenian rulers of Cilicia.