Eastern Mediterranean
This incomparable museum contains one of the world's finest collections of Roman and Byzantine mosaics, covering a period from the 1st century AD to the…
Must-see attractions in Eastern Mediterranean
Eastern Mediterranean
Near Narlıkuyu, a road winds north for 2km to several caves – sinkholes carved out by a subterranean river and places of great mythological significance…
Eastern Mediterranean
Rising from an island 250m offshore, impossibly romantic Kızkalesi Castle (also called the Sea Castle) is like a suspended dream. Check out the mosaics of…
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Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum
Eastern Mediterranean
Archaeology buffs should make a beeline for the Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum, within the national park of the same name. The ruins date from the 8th…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Anemurium's sprawling and eerily quiet ruins stretch for 500m down to a pebble beach, with mammoth city walls scaling the mountainside above. From the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Tentatively listed for World Heritage status, this remarkable monastery perches on a terraced slope high above the Göksu Valley, northwest of Silifke…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Amid the scant ruins of Seleuceia in Pieria at Çevlik, 5km northwest of Samandağ, is this this astonishing feat of Roman engineering. From the ticket…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Yılankale, an impressive castle rising boldly from a rocky ridge in the middle of modern-day corn fields, is a fantastic example of medieval Armenian…
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Eastern Mediterranean
About 8.5km northeast of Kızkalesi at Kumkuyu is the 33-54, the road leading 3km to the ruins of Kanlıdivane, the ancient city of Kanytelis.
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Eastern Mediterranean
Don't miss the opportunity to visit this often overlooked ancient port city in Rough Cilicia, which was settled in the 7th century BC but abandoned in the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The most imposing mosque in Adana is the six-minaret Sabancı Merkez Camii, rising gracefully from the left bank of the Seyhan River. The largest mosque…
Alanya
Surmounting Alanya's rocky peninsula is its awesome, Seljuk-era castle, girdled by 6km of walls and awaiting Unesco World Heritage listing. Climb to it…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The remnants of Roman Diocaesarea sit within the village of Uzuncaburç, 30km northeast of Silifke. Originally this was the Hellenistic city of Olba, home…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The compact Old City lies between Adana Bulvarı and Hal Caddesi. It includes a wonderful 60m-long stretch of Roman road and a labyrinth of alleyways…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Now housed in an enormous purpose-built complex on the site of a former textile factory about 4km west of the centre, Turkey's largest museum might also…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This early Christian church cut into the slopes of Mt Haç (or Staurin, the 'Mountain of the Cross') is thought to be the earliest place where the newly…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Tricky to get to, but well worth the effort, is Adamkayalar (Men Rock Cliff), 17 Roman-era reliefs carved on a cliff face about 8km north of Kızkalesi…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This Christian site is dedicated to St Thecla, one of St Paul's early devotees. Thecla is said to have spent her later years here trying to convert the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This purpose-built museum, which opened in 2017, is one of the best in provincial Turkey and will help you to put much of what you've seen along the coast…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Towering above the surrounding plains, stunning Kozan Castle stretches some 900m along a narrow ridge. It was built by Armenian King Leo I in the late…
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Alanya
A wooden walkway runs south along the old harbour's east wall from the Red Tower to the Tersane, the only Seljuk-built shipyard remaining in Turkey…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The squiggle of lanes between Kurtuluş Caddesi and Hürriyet Caddesi is an atmospheric huddle of Antakya's remaining old houses, with carved lintels,…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This Byzantine hilltop fortress, with its moat, two dozen towers and vaulted underground chambers, was once Silifke's command centre. It was originally…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The beautiful early 16th-century Ulu Cami is reminiscent of the Mamluk mosques of Cairo, with black-and-white banded marble and elaborate window surrounds…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This underground fairyland is home to spectacular stalactite and stalagmite formations with a crystal-clear pool at the deepest depth. A 360m-long walkway…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The oldest mosque in Anatolia, Habib-i Neccar Camii dates in part to the mid-7th century AD, when it was built as an early Christian church. Habib Al…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This old marketplace, whose name means `40 Spoons Bazaar' in Turkish, was built in 1597 and has also served as a soup kitchen, medrese (religious seminary…
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Eastern Mediterranean
In the neighbourhoods of Şehitkerim, Sofular and Kızılmurat you'll come across some lovely examples of historical Tarsus houses, one of which is now the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This tremendous castle, with its crenellated walls, 36 towers and part of its moat still intact, is the biggest and best-preserved fortification on the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
The remains of the 6th-century Monastery of St Simeon sit atop a 480m-high mountain 20km southwest of Antakya on the road to Samandağ. The cross-shaped…
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Alanya
As you walk up to Alanya Castle, the road passes a turn-off for the village of Ehmedek, which was the Turkish quarter during Ottoman and Seljuk times…
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Eastern Mediterranean
At the northern end of Kızkalesi beach, Corycus Castle (sometimes called the 'Land Castle') was rebuilt with Roman material by the Byzantines, briefly…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Some 4km northeast of Kızkalesi and just off the D400 are the extensive remains of ancient Elaiussa Sebaste, a city dating back to the early Roman period…
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Alanya
Refurbished in 2012, Alanya's small but excellently curated museum is worth a visit to see artefacts, including tools, jugs, jewellery, letters and coins,…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This excellent museum fills a restored colonial mansion with an interesting showcase of Turkish naval history, along with a room dedicated to covering the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This partially restored han (caravanserai) on the Aalara River was built by Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (who also built Alanya Castle) in 1231 to…
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Alanya
This striking five-storey octagonal defence tower, measuring nearly 30m in diameter, more than 30m in height and with a central cistern within for water…
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Eastern Mediterranean
While it may not sound like much of a crowd-pleaser, this museum near the landmark Muğdat Mosque has some fine exhibits (both display case and multimedia…
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Eastern Mediterranean
Around 500m west of the main entrance to the Caves of Heaven and Hell is Asthma Cave (Astim Mağarası), which supposedly relieves sufferers of the…
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Eastern Mediterranean
This picturesque gorge, with its lovely waterfall and smooth stone walls, 45km southeast of Alanya, makes for a great day trip. Access through the canyon…
