If Alanya has one silhouette recognised the world over, it is Kızıl Kule, the Red Tower. This octagonal citadel, 33 metres tall, has stood at the harbour entrance since 1226 — for nearly eight centuries.
Why it was built
The Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I conquered Alanya (then Kalonoros) in 1221 and made it the empire's main military port. The tower guarded the Tersane shipyard — a covered Seljuk dock, the only one still preserved in the Mediterranean.
Tersane — the 13th-century Seljuk shipyard.The architect
The tower was designed by Ebu Ali al-Kettani, an architect from Aleppo. Its walls are built of red brick on a stone foundation — hence the name. Inside, five floors are connected by a spiral staircase around a central water cistern.
Today
Since 1979 the tower has housed an Ethnographic Museum. Climbing to the top platform costs 90 TL — from here you get the finest view of the harbour and Cleopatra Beach.