A Brief History of Alanya: From Pirates to the Seljuks

Alanya is situated on a rocky peninsula on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. The natural harbour, protected by cliffs, gave the location strategic value throughout history.

⚓ ANCIENT PERIOD (BEFORE 67 BC) The city was known as Korakesion, from the Luwian word meaning "protruding city." It served as a base for Cilician pirates who raided Mediterranean shipping routes, using the peninsula and its caves to conceal ships and goods.

In 67 BC, Roman general Pompey the Great defeated the pirate fleet in a naval battle off Korakesion. The city came under Roman control.

🏛️ ROMAN & BYZANTINE PERIOD (67 BC – 1221 AD) Under Roman rule, Korakesion was a provincial town. After the division of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, it became part of the Byzantine Empire and was renamed Kalonoros ("beautiful mountain" in Greek). The Byzantines fortified the peninsula and built churches, some foundations of which remain visible inside the castle walls.

☪️ SELJUK PERIOD (1221–1471) Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I captured Kalonoros in 1221 from the Armenian lord Kir Fard and renamed it Alaiye — from which the modern name Alanya derives.

Keykubad's construction programme: Alanya Castle — 6.5 km of walls with 83 towers Kızıl Kule (Red Tower) — octagonal harbour defence, completed 1226 Tersane (Shipyard) — five arched bays carved into the cliff for warship construction

These structures established Alaiye as the primary Seljuk naval base on the Mediterranean.

🕌 OTTOMAN PERIOD & MODERN ERA The Karamanids transferred the city to the Egyptian Mamluks in 1427. In 1471, Ottoman general Gedik Ahmed Pasha incorporated it into the Ottoman Empire. In 1935, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk formalised the name "Alanya." Tourism development began in the 1960s. The current population exceeds 350,000.

📚 SOURCES Antalya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü — Alanya Kalesi Antalya İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü — Kızılkule T.C. Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı — Alanya