The promontory and castle of Alanya are visible for miles and offer superb views of beaches and mountains.

Now a large modern resort, in Roman times Alanya was called Coracesium, and was a stronghold of the pirates who menaced the grain fleets on their passage to Rome. After the defeat of the pirates in 65 BC, Coracesium became a thriving city. The Selçuk ruler,Alaeddin 1. Keykubad, made Alanya his winter residence and fortified it heavily.

A double line of defensive walls mounth the promontory toenclose the Citadel(Kale), inside which is a Byzantine church.

Punctuated by towers and gates, the walls are still in good condition. It takes about an hour to walk to the top, but there is a an hourly bus service.

The harbour is commanded by the 35 m-high (115 ft). Red Tower (Kızılkule), a hexagonal structure built by Alaeddin Keykubad 1 in 1226 and now restored.

Thered Tower protected Alanya's strategic dockyard, or tersane, which could accommodate five ships under construction at once.

In Selçuk times, the plentiful local forest provided ample timber for shipbuilding and even for export.

The garden of the museum has a collection of farming toolks as well as items drom. Pamphylian sites in the area. A Phoenician inscription from the 6th century BC shows the development of lettering

from its cuneifrom origins.

Atatürk visited Alanya for a few days in 1935. The owner of the house where he stayed turned it itno a museum. The ground floor has photograhand Atatürk memorabilia , and the upper floor displays the furniture of a typical Alanya house in Republican times.

There are several caves around the base of the cliffs, including a phosphours cave, a pirate cave and a lovers cave. The best known is the stalactite-hung Damlataş Cave, said to provide relief from asthma. The internal temperature registers a steady 23 C(73 F). Access is from the western beach, behind the Damlataş Restaurant.