Page 104 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya

From Korakassa to Korakesion to Alaie,
The City of Alaeddin Keykubad

The Seljuks continued to add strength to their power through
conquering Attaleia. Such that, since Attaleia was a Mediterra-
nean port city, this enabled them to become stronger in mari-
time affairs. The Seljuks, who established a large shipyard here,
formed a fleet of ships. However, this is never enough for the
Seljuks, who want to seize the whole Mediterranean coast. Of
course, one of the most important points for taking full control
of the Mediterranean coastline was Korakesion, the Korakassa
of 3rd millennium BC Anatolia, then in the hand of the Armeni-
an Kingdom. This beautiful city is located on a long and high
peninsular that divides a flat coastline into two, as it means end,
protrusion in Latin and in the earlier Anatolian Luwian language.
Later, when the Byzantines ruled, they changed its name to Ka-
lonoros, meaning “beautiful mountain”. It is today called Alanya.
Our great leader Mustafa Kemal Atatürk gave this name in 1935.
Before that, it was Alaiye. Because it is the capital city of Alaed-
din Keykubad. He took it from the Byzantines and made it the
capital of the Anatolian Seljuk State, Kalonoros, the city of the
Romans, which was captured by pirates for centuries. And with

Fig. 67: Anatolian Seljuk Sultan (1120 - 1237) Alaeddin Keykubad’s
Statue in Alanya. Photo by Özgür Mulazimoğlu.

103