Antalya

GENERAL CHARACTERISTIC OF THE REGION

	ANTALYA
Antalya is a port city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is the capital of Antalya province. It was known as Adalya and medieval Europe as Satalia.
Picturesquely situated on steep cliffs overlooking the gulf of Antalya, the city is third in importance of Turkey’s mediterranean ports, after Mersin and Iskenderun. The harbour is not deep, however, and only ships of very shallow draft can put in to the port.
This commercial disadvantage is further aggravated by city’s isolation from Central Anatolian by the high range of the western Toros mountains that encircles the region. The road connecting antalya with Burdur and Isparta through the Çubuk pass is inadequate for a large volume of traffic, and city has an international airport. Plans for a railway through the mountains have been economically infeasible.
		Trade is, therefore, confined to exporting the fruits (oranges, lemons, bananas, and olives ) grown on the fertile plains in the area.In recent years the growth of tourism has opened new avenues of development. The city’s seclusion from industry, its miles of uncrowded beaches, and the great wealth of relies of classical antiquity in its vicinity have accelerated its conversion into a Turkish “ Riviera ”. The city was founded by King Attalus II of Pergamum ( reigned 159-138 B.C.), and called Attaleia. Until taken by the Romans in 79 B.C. , it was notorious pirate haven.
It became a senatorial province of the Roman empire about 43 A.D. , and because of the great increase in maritime activity it replaced in importance the older neighbouring cities of the Pamphylian plain, Perge, Aspendos (Belkis), and Side. In 1207 it was taken from Byzantines by the Anatolian Seljuks. About the beginning of the 14Th century, Antalya passed to the Teke Beğleri, a branch of the Turkman dynasty of the Hamidoğlu, who lost it to Ottomans in 1423.