Kaleiçi Old Town

About this place

The harbour where you drink your coffee in Kaleiçi is the same one Roman, Seljuk and Ottoman ships tied up in for two thousand years; it only lost its job when a modern commercial port was built west of the city in the late twentieth century and it became a marina for yachts and excursion boats. That is the key to the whole district. Kaleiçi, 'inside the castle', is old Antalya with its walls and everything that survived inside them, wrapped in a featureless modern city. It is free, open at any hour, and needs no ticket. The grand entrance is Hadrian's Gate, three marble arches raised to mark the emperor's visit to the city in AD 130. Behind it the stone lanes narrow between restored Ottoman timber houses that are now boutique hotels, restaurants and shops. At the northern end stands the fluted Yivli Minare, Seljuk work of the thirteenth century and the city's emblem, with the clock tower beside it on Kalekapısı square. At the southern end, on the cliff edge inside Karaalioğlu Park, is the Roman Hıdırlık Tower; its surroundings reopened in July 2026 after excavations that uncovered a Roman colonnaded street, two baths and mosaics, with a free viewing terrace that gives one of the finest views of the gulf and the Beydağları mountains. The Kesik Minare, the 'broken minaret', is a Roman temple that became a church, then a mosque, and was restored and reopened for prayer in 2021 as the Şehzade Korkut Mosque. The Kaleiçi Museum (Suna and İnan Kıraç) recreates Ottoman Antalya home life in a restored house and the former church of St George beside it; the ticket is 80 lira, it closes on Mondays, and it is worth half an hour and not more. Boats in the harbour sell short trips to the Lower Düden waterfall, where the water drops straight off the cliff into the sea, and the falls are far better seen from the water than from above. Plain advice: the main lanes down to the harbour are thick with restaurant touts and the quayside prices are high for Antalya. The real beauty is in the back streets around the Kesik Minare, quiet and heavy with jasmine and bougainvillea. Cars are largely kept out, so park outside or take the tram, either the old line to Kalekapısı or the AntRay line to İsmetpaşa. Pushchairs manage, but the cobbles are uneven and the drop to the harbour is steep. In August walk before ten in the morning or after sunset, when the walls are lit and the cafés fill up.