Pamukkale
Pamukkale is one of the tourism paradise of Turkey, with its "heal all" medicinal springs and travertines.
Pamukkale where Nature and History meeting, and listed to the UNESCO World Heritage List, is an alternative tourism center to the sea tourism in Turkey. The window which is opening to the world Pamukkale, every year hosting over 1 million local and international visitors with its travertines' visual beauty.
The healing thermal water that provided Pamukkale to be a residential area for thousands of years, is also spring of famous white travertines. It is known that the thermal springs in Karahayit and Golemezli which are close to the Pamukkale, are good for, rheumatism, heart diseases, stomach, arteriosclerosis , blood pressure and skin diseases. Some of the hotels in the region, serviceing to the health tourism with their Professional personal.The Thermal Pool in Pamukkale, providing facilities for the visitors to entertain, with its 35 ° fixed temperature water.
The antique city Hierapolis and Pamukkale which are together in the same place is 20 km far from the city center. Hierapolis which is founded in B.C. 197, is taking attention because one apostle of the Jesus has been killed here. And so Hierapolis is very important for the region tourism. The historical artifacts which has been founded in excavations displaying in Hierapolis Archaeology Museum.
Corridor travel agency offers one or two days tours including pick up from your hotel with air condationed bus,accompany by a profesional tour guide,all etrences open buffet breakfast and dinner , accommaditon in 3 stars hotel and insurance. The tours does not include lunch, drinnks,Turkish Night and other indivudual needs.
Cappadocia
The area is a famous and popular tourist destination, as it has many areas with unique geological, historic and cultural features. The Cappadocia region is largely underlain by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and ignimbrite deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago (late Miocene to Pliocene epochs).
The rocks of Cappadocia near Goreme eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars
and minaret-like forms. The volcanic deposits are soft rocks that the people of the
villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries.
Goreme became a monastic center between 300 - 1200 AD. First period settlement in Goreme reaches to the Roman period from Christianity. Yusuf Koc, Ortahane, Durmus Kadir and Bezirhane churches in Goreme, houses and churches carved into rocks till to Uzundere, Bagildere and Zemi Valley carries the mystical side of history today. The Göreme Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. It is a complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries.
Corridor travel agency offers two or three days tours including pick up from your hotel with air conditioned bus,
accompany by a profesional tour guide, all etrances open buffet breakfast and dinner , accommadition in 3 stars hotel and insurance. The tours does not include lunch, drinks, Turkish Night and other personal needs.
Demre Myra Kekova
Myra is an ancient town in Lycia, where the small town of Kale (Demre) is situated today in present day Antalya Province of Turkey. It was located on the river Myros (Demre Çay), in the fertile alluvial plain between Alaca Dag, the Massikytos range and the Aegean Sea.
The earliest church of St. Nicholas at Myra was built in the 6th century. The present-day church was constructed mainly from the 8th century onward; a monastery was added in the second half of the 11th century.
In 1863, Tsar Alexander II of Russia purchased the building and began restoration, but the work was never finished. In 1963 the eastern and southern sides of the church were excavated. In 1968 the former confessio (tomb) of St. Nicholas was roofed over.
Kekova, also named Caravola (Lycian: Dolichiste), is a small Turkish island near Kas (ancient Antiphellos) district of Antalya province which faces the villages of Kaleköy (ancient Simena) and Üçagiz (ancient Teimioussa). Kekova has an area of 4.5 km² and is uninhabited.
After the Italian occupation of Kastelorizo, Kekova (which at that time was
temporarily inhabited during summer because of wood harvest) was disputed between
Italy and Turkey. The 1932 Convention between Italy and Turkey assigned it to Turkey.
On its northern side there are the partly sunken ruins of Dolchiste/Dolikisthe, an ancient town which was destroyed by an earthquake during the 2nd century. Rebuilt and still flourishing during the Byzantine Empire period, it was finally abandoned because of Arab incursions. Tersane (meaning "dockyard", as its bay was the site of an ancient city Xera and dockyard, with the ruins of a Byzantine church) is at the nortwest of the island.
The Kekova region was declared a specially protected area on 18 January 1990 by Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forest. All kinds of diving and swimming were prohibited and subject to special permits from governmental offices. In later years the prohibition has been lifted except for the part where the sunken city is.
The Kekova region is 260 km² and encompasses the island of Kekova, the villages of Kaleköy and Üçagiz and the four ancient towns of Simena, Aperlae, Dolchiste and Teimioussa.
Kaleköy (locally just "Kale") (ancient Simena) is a Lycian site on the Turkish coast. It is a small village with the partly sunken ruins of Aperlae[1] and a castle. Access to the village is possible only by sea.
Üçagiz (ancient name, Teimioussa) is a village one km from Kaleköy, north of a small bay by the same name, with the ruins of Teimioussa to the east. The name "Üçagiz" means "three mouths", referring to the three exits to open sea.
Corridor Travel Agency daily trips including pick up from your hotel with air condationed bus,accompany by a profesional tour guide, insurance, boat tour to Kekova breakfast and lunch. The tours does not include drinks, entrences and other indivudual needs.
Aspendos
Aspendos is located to the east of Antalya and is famous for its best-preserved ancient amphitheater built in the 2nd century AD during the reign of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The theater has a capacity of 15,000 people and is still used today for performances and festivals. Its galleries, stage decorations and acoustics all testify to its architect Xeno's success. Next to the stage there is a small room which is used as a small museum where you can see some of the masks and clay tickets from the ancient times. Just above the theater there is the acropolis with a great view of the river from the top, where you can see a basilica, an agora, a nymphaeum and and a bouleuterion (council), all of them in ruins. About one kilometer north of the town there is one of the largest Roman aqueducts in Anatolia which supplied Aspendos with water.
The river passing next to the city is called Köprüçay (ancient Euromydon) and was navigable once upon a time. This was also the place where the Persians used to breed their horses between 6th-4th centuries B.C. during their rule in Asia Minor.
According to the legend, Aspendos was first founded by Greek colonists who came to Pamphylia region after the Trojan War. There are also possibilities that the city could be founded by the Hittites. Aspendos was one of the cities in this region to mint silver coins under its own name. Together with their neighbors Perge, Aspendos was also left under the Persian rule between 6th and 5th centuries BC, then became a member of the Attic-Delos Maritime confederation after its liberation by the Athenians. But later in the 5th century BC Persians captured the city again and stayed there until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 BC. After the death of Alexander, the city was controlled by the Seleucids, and then the Kingdom of Pergamum until 133 B.C. when the Romans took over Pergamon.
During the Roman rule, like other Pamphylian cities, Aspendos lived its heydays between 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. During the Byzantine rule the city continued to survive. In the 13th century the Seljuks settled in Aspendos and converted the theater into a palace.
Today, Aspendos is also known with its local name: Belkis or Belkiz.
Side
Side town was one of the ancient ports of Pamphylia on the Mediterranean Sea, located on a tiny peninsula about 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Antalya. The word "side" in local Anatolian language meant "pomegranate". Some historians say that the city was settled around 7th century BC and than came under the rule of the Lydians, Persian, Alexander The Great's, Seleucid Empires, Pergamon Kingdom, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks respectively.
Side minted its own coins during the 5th century BC, a sign of strength and richness at that time. In the 4th century BC Alexander the Great captured the city without any fight, this was a peaceful period for whole region. In 190 BC, Side has allied with Antiochus III, king of Syria, and his commander Carthaginian Hannibal to fight against the Rhodian fleet, but they lost the naval battle and the city was occupied. In the 2nd century BC Side became a rich and prosperous city of Pamphylia again thanks to its location and the trade, actually it was a intellectual and cultural center too. In the 1st century BC Side was controlled by pirates and turned into a slave market, but with the arrival of the Romans these pirates had to leave. During the Roman rule, Side lived once more its heydays with its large harbor, trade between Anatolia and other ports of the Mediterranean, its important slave trading market and so on. Under the Byzantine rule, it was an important a Bishop center as well. Arab raids in the 7th century AD destroyed Side and its inhabitants abandoned the city. Side was not a settlement during the Seljuk or Ottoman periods.
Today excavations and studies show that Side was a very important city in the Mediterranean for several centuries. It was surrounded on all four sides by high walls to protect the city from both land and sea. The main gate of the city was built during the Hellenistic period to the east and it was protected by two towers. There were two main streets in the city, with columned porticos and shops behind them.
The Nymphaeum, a large monumental fountain, was built just outside the city wall and opposite the main gate. It had a large pool with ornamented niches, from which the water was flowing out. The city had also a perfect sewage system with terracotta pipes and vaults under the streets.
The square shaped (100 x 100 meters or 330 x 330 feet) Agora, the market place, is surrounded by porticos on four sides with shops under. It's located opposite the museum today. On the south-west corner of the Agora adjacent to the theater, there was a public toilet with a capacity of 24 people, one of the best examples of Roman latrines. A circular temple in the middle of Agora was dedicated to Tyche, god of Fortune. This Commercial Agora was connected to another square-shaped but smaller agora which was called as State Agora and used both for state affairs and slave trade. There was also a Gymnasium surrounded by porticos and composed of three halls, just to the south side of the Agora.
The theater is a unique example in Anatolia because of its plan and construction type, and is one of the best preserved ancient theaters in the world. It was built in the 2nd century AD on arches instead of a slope like in other Roman theaters elsewhere. It was formed by three sections: orchestra, scene, and cavea with a capacity of 20 thousand spectators approximately so this made it Pamphylia's largest theater. Besides regular performances, also gladiator and animal fights were organized in the theater. During the early Byzantine period it was used as an open-air church too by local Christians.
Side has great temples from the Roman period. Especially two of them are located by the sea near the harbor; one was dedicated to Athena and other one to Apollo. They were entirely built of marble in peripteros plan with Corinthian style capitals. In the 5th century AD a large Christian basilica was built in front of these temples, which were destroyed during the Arab raids in Asia Minor around the 7th century. Restoration of the temples are still being carried out. Another important temple, dedicated to the god Men (god of moon), was built by the end of the 2nd century AD to the east of the arcaded street. It has a semicircular base with Corinthian column capitals. And finally another temple, probably belonging to Dionysus, was built between the arcaded street and the theater.
A huge (40 x 50 meters or 130 x 164 feet) Roman public bath lies on the arcaded street as well, and is well preserved.
There are also big cemeteries (Necropolis) outside of the walls and aqueducts used to bring water to the city from about 25 kilometers (15 miles) away. Side has been excavated by archaeologists since 1947 and excavations continue also in present day.
Today, Side is a major tourist resort with its sandy beaches and great hotels. It offers history, sea and sun vacation, and many water sports activities. Nearby Aspendos theater and Perge site, Manavgat river, and the city of Antalya are easily reached if you're based in Side.
Side Museum
A huge Roman baths next to the theater is turned into a museum today. Originally the building was built in the 5th century AD and restored in 1960, than opened as a museum. The structure is formed by 5 rooms entered through two arched doorways. The first room was the frigidarium, coldest section of the baths. From here, there is a connection to the sweating room. The third and the largest room in the complex is known as caldarium, hottest section of the baths where the heating system was passing underneath its marble floor. After this, there was a tepidarium or washing area formed by two rooms. There was also a palaestra in front of the baths for physical exercises.
Side Museum hosts most beautiful archeological pieces collected from the region in its halls, all the statues found during excavations between 1947 and 1967 have been removed here. The museum has collections from the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods; inscriptions, statues, friezes, amphorae, altars, tombs and tomb stalls, columns and capitals, etc.
Kursunlu Waterfall
The Kursunlu Waterfall is located 19 km from Antalya at the end of a 7 km road branching off to the north of the Antalya-Serik-Alanya highway at a point 12 km from Antalya. It is reduced to a mere trickle in the summer months.
The waterfall is on one of the tributaries of the Aksu River and its situation in the midst of a pine forest is of quite exceptional beauty. The countryside around the water forms a lovely picnic and pleasure spot only twenty minutes from the centre of the city of Antalya.
Corridor travel agency daily trips including pick up from your hotel with air condationed bus,accompany by a profesional tour guide, insurance, open buffet lunch. The tours does not include drinnks,entrence to Kursunlu Waterfall and Aspendos Theatre and other indivudual needs.
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