Page 96 - Sarpedon’dan Keykubad’a Bir Zamanlar Antalya

From Attalos’ Attaleia
to Atatürk’s Antalya

Fig. 59: Atatürk in Antalya

There is no doubt that Antalya is the most beautiful place in the
world”.
That’s what Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said on the 8th of March,
1930, after looking for a long time from the Lara Rumkuş loca-
tion, the deep blue sea, the Konyaaltı coast and the snow-cov-
ered Bey Mountains. Of course, everyone saw this beauty of
Antalya, but it is not known whether they were really aware of it.
However, after our ancestor spoke these words that day, every-
one must have realized that this saying kept circulating among
the people of Antalya. Because, for the people of Antalya, as
Atatürk said, Antalya; by the azure mediterranean was the most
beautiful place in the world with its green coasts. But there was
something else, of course, a whole culture and history. That was
the thing that made Antalya, Antalya and made its name come
down to these days. Antalya was first Attaleia, which we call Ka-
leiçi today. So the city of king Attalos was a beautiful port city…

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