Alanya Castle

Alanya Castle in southern Turkey rises on a rocky peninsula above the Mediterranean. Its walls stretch for 6.5 km and are crowned by 14 towers, including the Red Tower beside the sea. Built in the 13th century by Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad on the remains of Byzantine and Roman fortifications, the castle is divided into an outer area with the shipyard, the middle Ehmedek section with residential buildings, and the inner İç Kale containing the sultan’s palace, mint and military structures. Today it is an open-air museum with a fourth- to fifth-century Byzantine church, medieval buildings and the remains of the Tersane shipyard.

The legend of Eleni’s tears tells of the daughter of the Byzantine lord Tekfur Argiles, who loved a poor shepherd. Refusing to marry a pirate chosen by her father, she wept in the castle dungeons, and her tears watered the barren hill between the fortress and Damlataş Beach. Laurel and pomegranate trees eventually grew there, and residents of Alanya still sense her sobs whenever the air smells of rain and laurel.