Antalya, Turkey's principal holiday resort in the Mediterranean region, is an attractive city with shady palm-lined boulevards, a prize-winning marina on the Mediterranean. Situated on a steep cliff over the Mediterranean, Antalya is a picturesque city surrounded by mountains. Developments in tourism, starting in the 1970s, have transformed the city into an international resort. With its airport and central location, Antalya is the capital of Turkish tourism, a gateway for the Turkish riviera and many historical sites.
The best-known attraction among the ruins of Aspendos is the great theater, an amazingly well preserved vestige of Roman architecture that may be as impressive as Rome's own Colosseum.
Other historical sites around Antalya are: Perge, Aspendos, Side, Termessos, Phaselis, Olympos, Chimeira, Kekova, Simena, Patara, Xantos, Letoon, Pinara, Tlos, Kas, Kalkan, Aperlai, Myra and Sillyon.
Karain Cave is located about 30 km northwest of Antalya at Yağcı Village, subordinated to the settlement unit of Yeniköy. It is a prehistoric cave, located at a height of about 370 metres from the sea and about 80 metres up the slope, where the Western Taurus calcareous zone borders on the travertine plain.
In Antalya the four seasons only appear in calendar. As there is no real winter here, the summers are hot and rainless while the other months are warm and often rainy.
Antalya’s most famous local dishes include Piyaz, made with tahini (crushed sesame seeds), garlic, walnuts and boiled dried beans, spicy hibeş with mixed cumin and tahini, şiş köfte, tandır kebap, domates civesi, şakşuka and various cold Mediterranean dishes with olive oil.
