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Coast of the Pirates Alanya

Introduction

These pages deal with four castles built on the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor (today's Turkey) between the two historical regions of Panfilia and Cilicia. The coast is protected by a high range of mountains (Taurus), which in the past made reaching the coast from the Anatolian plateau very difficult. In the IInd century BC this part of the Mediterranean fell into the hands of the Romans or of their allies and this led to a great increase in trade between Rome and the East. Because of the mountains commodities (including slaves) were loaded on ships at the Cilician ports and moved westwards along the coast.
Security of ships in the Mediterranean Sea had always been threatened by the activity of pirates and soon this coast became a haven for the pirates assaulting the ships which were bringing supplies to Rome. The map below shows the key points of the area: click here for a page on Antalia or here for a page on Side where the pirates went to sell their loot.

Map

The assaults by the pirates were so frequent that in 67 BC the Roman Senate gave Gneus Pompeus (Pompey) an imperium infinitum (extraordinary authority) for a period of three years to eradicate the pirates from the Mediterranean Sea. The pirates were attacked by a fleet of 500 ships and in a few months Pompey gained a full victory. In recognition of this success he was crowned with the special crown used to celebrate marine victories (which is shown in the background of this page).

Alanya

Alanya is today a very popular holiday resort, especially among German tourists and retired people. In the past it was the main harbour used by the pirates and Pompey made it a Roman colony named Coracesium. Alanya lies on a short rocky headland between two long sandy beaches. The headland protects a little harbour. In the XIIIth century Coracesium renamed Kalonoros (beautiful mountain) by the Byzantines, was conquered by the Seljuks, Turkish nomads, who had invaded Anatolia in the XIth century. The Seljuk Sultan Kaykobat I Ala ad-Din set his winter residence here and renamed the town Alaye (his normal residence was in Konya). Alaye in the next century was conquered by the Karamanids and for a certain period it was an important harbour. The conquest of Constantinople in 1453 and later on of the whole Eastern Mediterranean by the Ottomans led to new trade routes and Alaye was almost abandoned. Captain Francis Beaufort, who surveyed the southern coastline of Turkey in 1811/12 for the Admiralty, found Alaye in a very run-down condition. The streets and houses were miserable, there was no sign of any commerce and its population was no more than 1500-2000 inhabitants.

Kizilkule

On the headland the Seljuks built an impressive fortification system made of long stretches of walls, towers and castles (Kale). Kizil Kule (Red Tower) is an octagonal tower built in 1226 to protect the harbour. It is so popular that it is shown on the 250,000 TL note.

Details of the gates

The access to the top of the hill was protected by three curtain-walls with over 100 towers. The gates had inscriptions celebrating the Seljuk sultans.

Outer walls

The walls on the eastern side of the headland are very well preserved. They clearly show that they were built before the invention of modern artillery. Because of the loss of importance of Alaye, the Ottomans did not care to bring them up to the new warfare requirements.

Ehdemek Kale

Ehdemek Kale is a large fortress where the main buildings of the town were located. Today its covered market (bedesten) is a fine hotel. The mosque in Ehdemek Kale was built in the XVIIth century upon a Seljuk mosque. In the upper fortress (Iç Kale) the ruins of a little Byzantine church are the only memory of that historical period.

Mosque, church and hammam

Alaye had most likely several hammams (steam baths): one of them is still visible near the walls. On the western side of the headland there are no walls as the high cliffs satisfied defence needs.

Cliffs




See the other fortresses of the Coast of the Pirates:
Mamure Kalesi
Silifke
Korykos and Kizkalesi