Must-see attractions in Eastern Mediterranean

  • Hatay, Turkey - March 09, 2022 : Necmi Asfuroglu Archaeology Museum of Antakya City interior view in Turkey; Shutterstock ID 2135458105; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
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    Hatay Archaeology Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This incomparable museum contains one of the world's finest collections of Roman and Byzantine mosaics, covering a period from the 1st century AD to the…

  • Cave of Heaven and Hell in Mersin, Turkey. Cennet and Cehennem or heaven and hell are two large sinkholes in Taurus Mountains. ; Shutterstock ID 1554068366; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
1554068366

    Caves of Heaven and Hell

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Near Narlıkuyu, a road winds north for 2km to several caves – sinkholes carved out by a subterranean river and places of great mythological significance…

  • Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Archaeology buffs should make a beeline for the Karatepe-Aslantaş Open-Air Museum, within the national park of the same name. The ruins date from the 8th…

  • Alanya Castle walls and coastline

    Alanya Castle

    Alanya

    Surmounting Alanya's rocky peninsula is its awesome, Seljuk-era castle, girdled by 6km of walls and awaiting Unesco World Heritage listing. Climb to it…

  • Maiden's Castle (Kizkalesi), Mersin, Turkey; Shutterstock ID 2080110652; purchase_order: 65050; job: ; client: ; other:
2080110652

    Kızkalesi Castle

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Rising from an island 250m offshore, impossibly romantic Kızkalesi Castle (also called the Sea Castle) is like a suspended dream. Check out the mosaics of…

  • Anemurium Ancient City

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Anemurium's sprawling and eerily quiet ruins stretch for 500m down to a pebble beach, with mammoth city walls scaling the mountainside above. From the…

  • Alahan Monastery

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Tentatively listed for World Heritage status, this remarkable monastery perches on a terraced slope high above the Göksu Valley, northwest of Silifke…

  • Titus & Vespasian Tunnel

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Amid the scant ruins of Seleuceia in Pieria at Çevlik, 5km northwest of Samandağ, is this this astonishing feat of Roman engineering. From the ticket…

  • Yılankale

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Yılankale, an impressive castle rising boldly from a rocky ridge in the middle of modern-day corn fields, is a fantastic example of medieval Armenian…

  • Kanlıdivane

    Eastern Mediterranean

    About 8.5km northeast of Kızkalesi at Kumkuyu is the 33-54, the road leading 3km to the ruins of Kanlıdivane, the ancient city of Kanytelis.

  • Syedra

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Don't miss the opportunity to visit this often overlooked ancient port city in Rough Cilicia, which was settled in the 7th century BC but abandoned in the…

  • Sabancı Central Mosque

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The most imposing mosque in Adana is the six-minaret Sabancı Merkez Camii, rising gracefully from the left bank of the Seyhan River. The largest mosque…

  • Astım Cave

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Around 500m west of the main entrance to the Caves of Heaven and Hell is Asthma Cave (Astim Mağarası), which supposedly relieves sufferers of the…

  • Mamure Castle

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This tremendous castle, with its crenellated walls, 36 towers and part of its moat still intact, is the biggest and best-preserved fortification on the…

  • Uzuncaburç Ruins

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The remnants of Roman Diocaesarea sit within the village of Uzuncaburç, 30km northeast of Silifke. Originally this was the Hellenistic city of Olba, home…

  • Monastery of St Simeon

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The remains of the 6th-century Monastery of St Simeon sit atop a 480m-high mountain 20km southwest of Antakya on the road to Samandağ. The cross-shaped…

  • Old Town

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The compact Old City lies between Adana Bulvarı and Hal Caddesi. It includes a wonderful 60m-long stretch of Roman road and a labyrinth of alleyways…

  • Adana Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Now housed in an enormous purpose-built complex on the site of a former textile factory about 4km west of the centre, Turkey's largest museum might also…

  • Memorial Church of St Peter

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This early Christian church cut into the slopes of Mt Haç (or Staurin, the 'Mountain of the Cross') is thought to be the earliest place where the newly…

  • Adamkayalar

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Tricky to get to, but well worth the effort, is Adamkayalar (Men Rock Cliff), 17 Roman-era reliefs carved on a cliff face about 8km north of Kızkalesi…

  • Cave Church of St Thecla

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This Christian site is dedicated to St Thecla, one of St Paul's early devotees. Thecla is said to have spent her later years here trying to convert the…

  • Mersin Archaeological Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This purpose-built museum, which opened in 2017, is one of the best in provincial Turkey and will help you to put much of what you've seen along the coast…

  • Ehmedek

    Alanya

    As you walk up to Alanya Castle, the road passes a turn-off for the village of Ehmedek, which was the Turkish quarter during Ottoman and Seljuk times…

  • Kozan Castle

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Towering above the surrounding plains, stunning Kozan Castle stretches some 900m along a narrow ridge. It was built by Armenian King Leo I in the late…

  • Corycus Castle

    Eastern Mediterranean

    At the northern end of Kızkalesi beach, Corycus Castle (sometimes called the 'Land Castle') was rebuilt with Roman material by the Byzantines, briefly…

  • Elaiussa Sebaste

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Some 4km northeast of Kızkalesi and just off the D400 are the extensive remains of ancient Elaiussa Sebaste, a city dating back to the early Roman period…

  • Alanya Archaeological Museum

    Alanya

    Refurbished in 2012, Alanya's small but excellently curated museum is worth a visit to see artefacts, including tools, jugs, jewellery, letters and coins,…

  • Tersane

    Alanya

    A wooden walkway runs south along the old harbour's east wall from the Red Tower to the Tersane, the only Seljuk-built shipyard remaining in Turkey…

  • Old Town

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The squiggle of lanes between Kurtuluş Caddesi and Hürriyet Caddesi is an atmospheric huddle of Antakya's remaining old houses, with carved lintels,…

  • İskenderun Naval Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This excellent museum fills a restored colonial mansion with an interesting showcase of Turkish naval history, along with a room dedicated to covering the…

  • Silifke Castle

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This Byzantine hilltop fortress, with its moat, two dozen towers and vaulted underground chambers, was once Silifke's command centre. It was originally…

  • Alarahan

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This partially restored han (caravanserai) on the Aalara River was built by Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (who also built Alanya Castle) in 1231 to…

  • Ulu Cami

    Eastern Mediterranean

    The beautiful early 16th-century Ulu Cami is reminiscent of the Mamluk mosques of Cairo, with black-and-white banded marble and elaborate window surrounds…

  • Red Tower

    Alanya

    This striking five-storey octagonal defence tower, measuring nearly 30m in diameter, more than 30m in height and with a central cistern within for water…

  • Mersin Naval Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    While it may not sound like much of a crowd-pleaser, this museum near the landmark Muğdat Mosque has some fine exhibits (both display case and multimedia…

  • Tekirambarı

    Eastern Mediterranean

    Tekir Ambarı (literally `Striped Granary') is actually an ancient water cistern (su sarnıcı) carved from rock, which can be entered via a spiral staircase…

  • Sapadere Canyon

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This picturesque gorge, with its lovely waterfall and smooth stone walls, 45km southeast of Alanya, makes for a great day trip. Access through the canyon…

  • Silifke Museum

    Eastern Mediterranean

    To the east of Silifke's centre, on the main road heading to Taşucu, this local museum showcases Roman figurines – one in impressive full uniform – and…

  • Church of St Paul

    Eastern Mediterranean

    South of the Old City, what is also called the St Paul Memorial Museum (St Paul Anıt Müzesi) was originally built in 1850 as a Greek Orthodox church to…

  • Dim Cave

    Eastern Mediterranean

    This underground fairyland is home to spectacular stalactite and stalagmite formations with a crystal-clear pool at the deepest depth. A 360m-long walkway…

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