The antalya region has always been settled, ever since the paleolithic age untill today. Since there are names of this region mentioned in homer's illiad, it is obvious that there was an indigenous people called pamphilio living in in this region around 1200 b.c. The region later was under the sovereignty of the lydian kingdom, the persians and alexander the great. The western part of pamphillia was acquired by the king attalos ıı of pergarnon in 2nd century b.c. And the king founded a city on the western coast of the mediterranean sea and gave his name to the city, “attalia”, today’s antalya. The city was subjected to the roman empire after death of attalos ııı and to the byzantine empire beginning from the 4th century. As of the seljuks' conquest of the city in 1207, the turkish-islamic period began and the region came under the sovereignty of the ottoman state towards the end of the 14th century.

The city of antalya stretches along the baybearing its name, and is built at 39 meters altitude on a rocky coastline. One is immediately stunned by the taurus mountains rising to 3086 meters above this coastline, interspersed with valleys of varying sizes. Land and sea everywhere meet the beaches stretching for miles or the steep cliffs. The taurus mountains against the blue backdrop of the sky, the precipices and especially the caves close to the sea add another dimension to the beauty of the region.
Small and large streams emerging from the west side of the taurus water the plains on their journey to the mediterranean. This translucent running water, cascading into the sea at points along the coast, is another attractive sight.
The plant life of antalya is extremely varied. Every kind of tropical plant can be found along the coast. Visitors to antalya are struck by the size attained by the different species of cactus. When you reach the foothills of the taurus, you will see they are covered in the typical mediterranean maquis, while the forests are full of thriving oaks and pine trees. The cotton and sesame plantations and citrus and banana groves of the plains have a beauty of their own.

Termessos is perhaps the most interesting ancient city in antalya region. İt is a psidian city built at a height of 1050 meters in the taurus mountains. Termessos constitutes an unusual synthesis of a large number of rare plants and animal species, which are under protection in the termessos national park. When turning off the antalya-burdur highway (11 km.) İn the direction of korkuteli, the termessos signpost will be seen 14 km. Further on, and termessos itself is a further 9 km. A visit to this site requires time and the stamina to walk uphill, because termessos is built entirely on a mountainous area difficult to access. The inhabitants of termessos were known as the solyms but unlike those of other cities of the time they did not come from the sea and were entirely of anatolian origin. What is known of their history commences principally at the time that alexander the great surrounded the city in 333 b.c., which he likened to an eagle's nest and failed to conquer. Termessos, after a gradual decline, was finally abandoned in the 5th century a.d. some of the remains found there are the walls, the hadrian's triumphal arch, the cisterns, the theater, the gymnasium, the agora, the odeon and the heroon. Among the tombs which are scattered far and wide can be seen those of alcates, agatemeros and the lion decorated sarcophagi, which are extraordinary.

At a distance of 48 km. Along the antalya burdur highway and before arriving at the village dag, turn left and ariassos is reached 1 km. Further on. A city of antiquity, ariassos was built in a valley and could survey its surroundings. The gate, the baths, the rock tombs and the mausoleum are worth seeing.

The ancient city center enclosed by the sea and land walls is today called the "kale ici"old town (inner bailey). The streets and buildings still bear the marks of antalya's history. The characteristic of the houses do not lie only in their architecture but reflect the living habits, customs and social ways of the inhabitants of ancient antalya and are thus a valuable source of information.
This streets within the bailey are narrow, and stretch upwards from the harbor and along by the walls. The difference in the houses shows the economic status of the owners or the purpose for which they were used. However, they share many common factors. Most of them were built of masonry interspersed with timber. Each one has a front and back garden. They are very few windows on the street side of the first floor of the house. On the top floor is a "cumba" or trellised projection in harmony with the architecture of the house and street, adorned with wooden ornaments. The center of the house is on the ground floor and opens onto a paved courtyard called "taslik" and where there are wooden benches. This leads into the ground floor rooms and there is also a staircase to the upper floors. The ground floor is largely the house's servicing area and consists of the kitchen, storage room, etc. While the upper floor contains the living quarters, although kitchen and storage room can sometimes be seen on the top floor. The upper floor rooms are larger and lighter with large windows. İn some of these houses the top floor rooms have two rows of windows, one on top of the other, and in some cases the upper rows do not have any glass only wooden lattices. The bottom row can be opened. In the upper part of some of the "cumba" are small pieces of glass, sometimes colored. A few of the buildings within the harbor have been restored and restoration is continuing. Today in the inner bailey, can be found places of entertainment, guesthouses, restaurants, shops selling souvenirs and old carpets and other necessities, a supermarket servicing the yacht as well as other amenities required by them, and it is in fact an attractive center of tourism.
The port of antalya was formerly considered after mersin as the only port on turkey's western seaboard where ships could dock. However, today it is used exclusively as a yacht harbor. After the new industrial harbor west of antalya went into operation, the former port became known as the yacht harbor.

The ancient city of antalya was protected by two walls, in the shape of a horseshoe, one enclosing it along the shore and the other inland. İn addition, there were walls within the city separating the various settlements, and a great number of towers on the outer walls at 50 paces from each other. These walls date back to ancient times and, as was the general rule, the romans built on the hellenistic foundations and these were subsequently widens and repaired by the seljuks. Many stone blocks with ancient inscriptions were used and the walls were well protected until the end of the 19th century. Today in the city can be seen the remains of some of the walls, a few turrets, hadrian's gate, the clock tower, and the hidirlik tower.

This is one of the best preserved monuments in antalya. This roman edifice was built in 130 a.d. to honor the emperor hadrian. Formerly the city walls enclosed the outside of the gate and it was not used for many years. This may be the reason why it has not been destroyed, and it was only revealed when the walls collapsed. İt is considered as pamphylia's most beautiful gate. The upper part has three apertures in the shape of a cupola, and except for the pillars is built entirely of white marble. The ornamentation is very striking. The original gate was two storeys but little is known of the top storey. On either side of the gate are towers, which are known not to have been built at the same time. The southern one is known as the julia sancta tower and is a work of the hadrian era. İt was constructed of plain stone blocks. While the base of the northern tower belongs to antiquity, the upper part is left over from the seljuks. İt is worth while stopping in front of the gate and reflecting for a few moments. On the one hand you are standing on modern antalya's dual carriageway, lined with palm and orange trees, ataturk caddesi, while behind you is ancient attaleia, the past and the present separated by pamphylia's most beautiful gate, which itself has on either side towers representing the art and civilization of two different epochs. This blending of the epochs is something peculiar to antalya and can be often seen.

This tower, which has a square base surmounted by a cylindrical edifice, can be seen at the southern most point of the land walls. Belonging to ancient times, there is a large square block in the interior. The tower is a very solid building and, from the shape of the inside, it is thought to have been used for defense or to send out signals by lighting a fire.

Examination of this building reveals that it dates to the 2nd century a.d. and that in the 5th century a.d. a basilica was built on an ancient temple. The son of bayazit ıı, sultan korkud, transformed it into a mosque and had a minaret added. When a fire broke out in the 19th century the timber section of the minaret was burnt out, and since then it has been called the "truncated minaret". İt is to this day in a state of disrepair and does not function as a mosque, but as visitors can see ancient, byzantine and seljuk remains all at one time, it still serves as an unusually interesting sight.

The "kalekapisi" neighborhood is where number of buildings of seljuk origin are concentrated, and consist of the following: the fluted (yivli) minaret, the yivli mosque, the giyaseddin keyhusrev medrese, the seljuk medrese, the mevlevi han, the zincirkiran mausoleum and the nigar hatun mausoleum. The fluted minaret is one of the first muslim edifices in antalya and is an 18th century work of the seljuk period. İts base is of hewn stone and the trunk of bricks and turquoise colored tiles, and it has eight grooves. This minaret has now become the symbol of antalya. İt is 38 meters high and the top is reached by 90 steps. The yivli minaret mosque is to the west of the truncated minaret. İt is the oldest example of the multicupola construction in anatolia; it is covered by six semi-spherical cupolas. İt was built in 1372 by balaban tavsi and it can be seen that ancient ruins have been used in addition to other products in its construction. Giyaseddin keyhusrev had the medrese built in his name by atabey armagan in 1239. Facing the entrance of this building are the ruins of what is thought to be a 13th century seljuk medrese. The zincirkiran mausoleum is north of the fluted minaret in the upper garden and is of seljuk design. However, because of the simplicity of the exterior, of having windows, and the tombs being at a lower level, it has the characteristics of the ottoman mausoleums. İt was built in 1377 and contains three tombs. The nigar hatun mausoleum is also north of the fluted minaret. İt is of simple design and is hexagonal in shape. The seljuk style mausoleum dates back to 1502. İt is believed that the mevlevis house to the west of the zincirkiran mausoleum was built by aladdin keykubat in 1225. İts inscription has been effaced, but the building has been repaired and is today used as a fine arts gallery.

Side is reached by turning south 2 km. Before manavgat on the antalya-alanya highway. The exact date of its founding is not known. İn the language of anatolia "side" means pomegranate. From inscriptions it appears that side dates back to the hittite period. The city was constructed on a peninsula and was a hellenistic and roman town, protected by city and sea walls. One's attention is particularly drawn to the city gates and walls, as well as many remains of aqueducts which brought water from the foothills of the taurus mountains and the surrounding country. The old baths have been restored and turned into a museum, in which are exhibited some of the statues and art treasures found in side. One of its most important buildings is its 15,000 spectator theater. The difference between this roman theater and other antique theaters in the region is that it is not built against a hillside. The 2 storey theater, built on a series of arches, is 20 m. High. The orchestra and the stage are in a state of ruin. Rainwater canals run under the theater. Side has colonnaded streets, a triumphal arch, a harbor, baths, fountains, cisterns, aquaducts, temples and an agora.

Selge is in the north of manavgat, on the antalya-alanya highway, where the selge signpost will be seen, after which it is a further 55 km. The road is good until koprulu canyon, but for the last 12 km. After the ancient bridge, a jeep-type vehicle is recommended. İt is particularly beautiful in the area of the koprulu canyon. Built at 950 m. Above sea level, selge was a psidia mountain settlement. The best preserved building is the theater, and the city walls, the tower, the cisterns, the stadium and the necropolis are worth seeing.

Perge is 18 km. East of antalya between the duden and aksu streams. This is reached along the antalya-alanya highway, turning north at aksu, going 2 km. Further on. As it was not located on the coast, it was not subjected to raids by pirates and therefore continued its progress without interruption. İt was settled in 1200 b.c. in 334 a.d. perge, like side, reached an agreement with alexander and thus did not go to war or suffer the usual ravages. İt lived through the hellenistic, the roman and the byzantine epochs. İts 15,000 spectator theater was built in the 2nd century a.d., and the nearby stadium could hold 12,000 people. With the exception of the aphrodisias stadium, it is the best preserved in anatolia. There are 30 rooms, believed to have been used as shops, underneath the stadium seats. A great many statues and other valuable items have been unearthed in recent digs, many of which are in the antalya museum. Some of the things worth seeing in perge are the hellenistic gate, the agora, the nymphaeum, the colonnaded streets, the sarcophagi, the basilica and the acropolis.

After passing serik on the antalya-alanya highway, you turn north and continue for 4 km. İt dates back to the 5th century b.c. the theater which was built in the 2nd century a.d. was periodically repaired by the seljuks who used it as a caravansaray. İt is one of the best preserved theaters to be found today. Allowing 0.50 m. Per seat, the theater holds 7000 spectators, with an additional 500 in the orchestra. Today it is used for concerts, festivals and grease wrestling events. İn addition to the theater the agora, basilica, nymphaeum and 15 km. Of aqueducts are to be seen.

About 35 km. Along the antalya-alanya highway, you turn north and continue 8 km. Until silyon is reached. İt was built on an ellipse-shaped table-like plateau rising above the flat plain. Due to its location the surrounding areas can easily be seen, and in fact the view stretches as far as the mediterranean. İt was settled in the 4th century b.c. and it lived not only through the hellenistic, roman and byzantine periods, but was also used by the seljuks who also added buildings and increased its wealth. Some of its interesting sights are the stadium, gymnasium, turrets, seljuk mosque, the theater whose proscenium is buried under rocks, and the sports arena.

Düden falls, manavgat falls, kurşunlu falls All the streams of the region aim at finding their way into the mediterranean and they pour down the slopes of the taurus, sometimes overland sometimes underground and, reaching their destination, result in lovely waterfalls, of which there are more than twenty. The loveliest of these are the duden falls, 15 km. North of antalya, the kursunlu falls 18 km. Along the antalya-alanya highway and those of manavgat 3 km. North of the town.

Türkiye sahip olduğu turizm potansiyeline bir yenisini ekleyerek turizmini daha da zenginleştiren bir Imans kavuştu:Dünyanın en uzun ikinci, Avrupa`nın en uzun Teleferiği, Akdeniz’i ve 2’365 Metre yüksekliğindeki Tahtalı Dağı’ nın zirvesini birleştiriyor. Zirvesi karla kaplı bu heybetli dağ hızla büyüyen ve turizmin gözdesi olan Kemer, Antalya bölgesinde yer almaktadır. Antalya`ya iş veya turizm amaçlı gelen herkesin mutlaka görmesi gereken teknoloji ve mühendislik harikası Tahtalı Teleferik günlük ziyaretler icin ideal ve unutulmaz bir seçim olacaktır.
Kar, Tahtalı’ nın zirvesini adeta bir şapka gibi Aralık ayından başlayarak , Nisan'in sonuna kadar kaplamakta ve muhteşem bir görünüm yaratmaktadır. Bölge iklim olarak yıl boyu ılıman ve sıcak havası, kristal berraklığında mavi denizi,etrafını çevreleyen antik kentleri ve aynı zamanda 2000 m üzerinde ideal dağ havası ile neredeyse tüm yıl boyu turizme elverişli konumdadır.
Dünyanın en güzel Milli parklarından birinde yer alan,güven ve emniyetin herşeyin üzerinde olduğu, Tahtalı Teleferik ile vahşi orman ve benzersiz sedir ağaçlarinin, yer yer bulutların üzerinde, yalçın yamaçları, vadileri ve vahşi hayvanları izleyerek zirveye yapılacak ziyaret ,misafirlerine unutulmaz anlar yaşatmaktadır.