| Antalya
is the heart of Turkish tourism, and Kaleiçi is the heart of Antalya.
|
| Kaleiçi
is the old town inside the city’s fortifications, and consists of
a maze |
| of streets
lined by old houses. When I got out of the car and headed for |
| Kaleiçi
I had planned to stay just a few hours, and could never have foreseen |
| that
I would spend eight days wandering through its streets. It was like |
| exploring
a miniature country. Here were the houses of Safranbolu and Muğla, |
| the
doors of Ayvalık and Bergama, and the narrow lanes of Cumalıkızık; |
| the
Grand Bazaar of Istanbul with its shops selling kilims, carpets and
silk |
| puşi
from as far afield as Van, and even the rag dolls of Cappadocia. Here |
| were
the nomadic hair tents which I had seen on Mount Küçük Nemrut, |
| with
women weaving carpets inside them, and the ancient walls, churches, |
| mosques,
medreses, hans and hamams dating variously from the Roman, |
| Byzantine,
Seljuk and Ottoman periods as seen in many parts of Anatolia. |
|
|
How could I ever have thought that a few hours would suffice?
|
| There was the |
| old
harbour, now a marina, encircled by the city walls. The harbour scene |
| looked
quite different by morning and by evening, each as beautiful as the
other, |
| with
the light slowly flashing at the end of the breakwater, the sailing
boats of |
| all
shapes and sizes, and the palm trees and date palms along the waterfront. |
| It is
no wonder that King Attalos II of Pergamum declared this spot to be
heaven |
| on earth
when he first came here.The story goes that around two thousand years |
| ago
King Attalos sent a vanguard out into the world with the order, ‘Find
a place |
| that
should be the envy of all kings and princes, a place to draw all eyes.
Discover paradise for me.’ When they came to the place where Antalya
stands today, |
| it was
so beautiful that they realised they had found the paradise of which
the |
| king
had spoken, and sent a messenger back to inform him. When Attalos |
| arrived
he immediately commanded that a city be founded here, to be called |
| Attaleia
after himself. The city changed hands over the centuries, but the
name |
| remained.
Under the Seljuk Turks, who first took the city in 1085 and on a |
| permanent
basis in the early 13th century, it was variously called Stelai, |
| Satalya,
Adalya and Antalya. |
|
|
Kaleiçi is the site of the ancient city of Attaleia, making
it one
|
| of the oldest inhabited cities in Turkey. Structures |
| dating from the Romans, Byzantines, |
| Seljuks
and Ottomans are still standing in the old town, which has an area |
| of 35
hectares and consists of four neighbourhoods, Selçuk, Tuzcular, |
| Barbaros
and Kılıçarslan. Both sea and land walls were built right around |
| the
city, for protection against pirates in particular, and subsequently
a |
| second
wall with towers and turrets was built as the city grew larger. It
is this |
| second
wall which now encloses the old quarter of the city, and around which |
| the
main streets of modern Antalya run.In the narrow shaded streets of
Kaleiçi |
| even
the blazing heat of the noon sun is muted. Large or small, every house |
| has
a garden surrounded by high stone walls, over which hang branches
of |
| orange,
bitter orange, lemon, plum and wild apricot trees and palm fronds. |
| Great
wooden gates, usually double, lead into the courtyard, around which |
| are
vegetables and flowers as well as fruit trees. These courtyards are
the |
| most
important part of traditional Antalya houses. In hot weather the occupants |
| wash
them down with water, which collects between the pebbles and cools
the |
| air
as it evaporates.From the courtyard a staircase leads up to the hayat,
a |
| broad
balcony off which the rooms open. In the past the word for room was |
| ev or
house, and indeed each room was designed like a self-contained dwelling, |
| the
largest belonging to the master of the house. |
|
| Around
the walls of each room were shelves about two metres from the floor. |
| The
rooms on the ground storey had low ceilings, but those on the upper
storeys |
| were
up to 4 metres in height, enabling the movement of air to keep the
rooms |
| cool
in this hot climate.One day I was invited into a house near the Oscar
Cinema |
| by Atiye
Hanım, who had seen me from the window as I looked at the old houses. |
| Atiye
Hanım had lived in this house ever since her marriage, and her elderly
mother |
| had
lived here all her life. I followed her through the door, across the
courtyard, and |
| up the
stairs into a pretty sitting-room with the original decorated ceiling.
The house |
| had
been restored, and she was proud of having retained most of its original
features. |
| As we
sipped our coffee in the kitchen, I admired the blossom on the tree
beyond the |
| window
and breathed in its fragrance. Although images can be photographed
there is |
| regretfully no way to preserve scents. Some
of the houses of Kaleiçi have been |
| restored
and others are awaiting their turn. Passing old deserted houses I
imagined |
| how
it would be to look through the courtyard gate and see freshly washed
pebbles, |
| wells
in working order, crisp white curtains, and windows framing carnations
and |
| geraniums.
This dream is shared by Antalya Kaleiçi Association (ANKAD), which
was |
| founded
a year ago to restore the abandoned and derelict houses of the area.
When I |
| met
chairman of the association Murat Erdoğan and some of the members,
they told me |
| about
their plans and projects. As more people lend their support to their
work, it will not |
| be
so long before all of Kaleiçi is rescued for posterity. |
|
