| ANTALYA & ITS SURROUNDINGS |
| Set amid amazing scenery of sharp contrasts, Antalya, Turkey’s principal holiday resort, is an attractive city with shady palm-lined boulevards, and a prize-winning marina. In the picturesque old quarter, Kaleiçi, narrow winding streets and old woden houses surround the ancient city walls. Since its foundation in the second century B.C., Antalya has been continuously inhabited. The Romans, Byzantines and Seljuks in turn occupied the city before it came under Otoman rule. At Antalya, the pine clad Taurus Mountains sweep down to the sparkling clear sea forming an irregular coastline of rocky headlands and secluded coves. The regionn, bathed in sunshine for 300 days of the year is a paradise for sunbathing and swimming for supporting activities like wind surfing, water skiing, sailing, mountain climbing and hunting. It is possible to see hundreds of microsystems and eleven different types of macrosystems. It has been determined that of the 430 species of birds known and wide spread in Turkey, 130 species are living in Belek region located on the eastern part of Antalya. Besides, 574 of the approximately 12.000 species of plants in Turkey and 28 of the 3.000 endemic plant species have been determind in this region. Major sights in the environs: Archeological Museum, Hadrian’s Gate, Old Harbour, Upper and Lower Duden Waterfalls, Truncated Minaet, Aspendos, Perge, Side, Alanya, Termessos, Phaselis and Myra. |