Alanya, Turkey

My Favorite Turkish City on the Mediterranean Sea

Alanya is by far one of the most beautiful Turkish cities in Turkey. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, Alanya is an important tourist city for Germans, roughly 5000 of them, who call Alanya their summer home. For me, though, the beauty of Alanya are its history. Alanya is an ancient Seljuk city. Not far from the city is an ancient Seljuk mosque surrounded by castle walls. I got some great shots of Alanya from atop the minaret of the mosque. Alanya also has some great fruit orchards with the best tasting oranges I ever tasted. Make the Germans mad and choose Alanya as your next travel destination.

View of Alanya

This is probably one of the best views ever that I got of a Turkish city.  Located in the castle walls, the Suleymaniye Mosque was a great place to take pictures of Alanya (the mosque is between 700-750 years old depending on who you talk to).  The Imam of the mosque let me climb to the top of the minaret for these great pictures. It was a little scary but worth the shot (I also nearly lost my camera at the top).  From this view, it is no wonder the Germans want to keep this city secret from the rest of the world.

Suleymaniye Camii (Mosque) – I will be climbing up on the minaret to the right.

Fruits of Alanya

Wow, this was the first time in my life that I ever visited a banana plantation. Definately arrange to visit the fruit orchards of Alanya if you ever have time. I brought back roughly 38 kilograms of fruits for my friends in Istanbul.

The oranges and lemons in Alanya are the best tasting in the world.