ANTALYA is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. It is Turkey's biggest international sea resort, located on the Turkish Riviera. In 2011 the city had a population of 964,886 and the metropolitan municipality 1,041,972. Antalya was the world's fourth most visited city by number of international arrivals in 2011, with 10.5 million annual visitors. Most of these tourists were changing planes or moving between the airport and the cruise lines.   Tourism in Antalya Konyaaltı Beach as seen from the nearby cliffs. The Beydağları mountains can be seen in the background. Kaleiçi, with its narrow cobbled streets of historic Ottoman era houses, is the old center of Antalya. With its hotels, bars, clubs, restaurants, and shopping, it has been restored to retain much of its historical character; its restoration has won the Golden Apple Tourism Prize. Cumhuriyet Square, the main square of the city, is the location for temporary open air exhibitions and performances. The city also features sites with traces of Lycian, Pamphylian, and Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk and Ottoman architecture and cultures. International luxury hotels stand along the coast above the Konyaalti and Lara beaches.

Festivals and events

A number of sports championships including motor rallies and the 2010 World Weighlifting Championships.

Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival: Turkey's largest national film festival, last week of September

International Eurasia Film Festival: International film festival held annually
Antalya Festival: September

Mediterranean International Music Festival: October, 6 days

Antalya International Folk Music and Dance Festival Competition: Last week of August

Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival: June and July

Flower festival May

Historic sites in the city center

The Atatürk Monument at Cumhuriyet Meydanı (Republic Square.)
Kaleiçi: the historical center of the city.
Ancient monuments include the City Walls, Hıdırlık Tower, Hadrian's Gate (also known as Triple Gate), and the Clock Tower.
Hadrian's Gate: constructed in the 2nd century by the Romans in honor of the Emperor Hadrian.
İskele Mosque: A 19th-century Mosque near the Marina.
Karatay Medrese: A Medrese (Islamic theological seminary) built in 1250 by Emir Celaleddin Karatay.
Kesik Minare (Broken Minaret) Mosque: Once a Roman temple then converted to a Byzantine Panaglia church and finally into a mosque.
Tekeli Mehmet Paşa Mosque: An 18th-century Mosque built in honor of Tekeli Mehmet Paşa.
Yat Limanı: the harbour dating to Roman era.
Yivli Minare (Fluted Minaret) Mosque: Built by the Seljuks and decorated with dark blue and turquoise tiles, this minaret eventually became the symbol of the city.

Main sights Antalya has beaches including Konyaaltı, Lara and Karpuzkaldıran. For winter sports, Beydağları and Saklikent are both natural beauties of the city. There are a number of mosques, churches, madrasahs, masjids, hans (caravanserai) and hamams (Turkish bath) in the city. Kaleiçi, the harbor, which the city walls enclose, is the oldest part of the city. Kaleiçi features many historic houses with traditional Turkish and local Greek architecture.

Climate

The area is shielded from the northerly winds by the Taurus Mountains. Antalya has a Mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild and rainy winters. Around 300 days of the year are sunny, with over 3000 hours of sunlight per year. The sea temperature ranges between 15 °C (59 °F) in winter and 28 °C (82 °F) in summer. The air temperature reaches high of up to 45 °C (113 °F) in July and lows down to −4 °C (25 °F) in February - the average temperature is in the low to mid 30 °C (86 °F).

 

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