It is an ancient city in ruins located to the west of Antalya and north of Finike, in close proximity to the Arif village. The remains of Arykanda, which are worth a visit, are half an hour’s walk away. It is known that the name of the city in the Luwian/Etruscan language was “Arukawanda/Aruwawanda” meaning “People having an Altar”. Arykanda, which was an acropolis city, was, after the hegemonies of Lycia, Persia, Macedonia, Ptolemaios, Seleucia and Rhodes, subordinated to Rome in 43 A.D. After a great earthquake during the Byzantine epoch the city moved to the area known as Ortaçay.

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The caravans travelling from Alaiye to Antalya and Konya have been staying at Alara Han (Inn) from the Middle Ages until recent times. The quadrangular caravanserai, with dimensions of 38×50 metres, located on the first plain to the eastern bank of  Alara Creek, was built of dressed stone blocks with symbols visible thereon, except for the eastern walls. The Inn was reinforced by triangular and quadrangular struts on three façades. To the north is a portal embellished with lion’s head relief, crowned with a depressed arch.

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The adjustment of Adrasan is amid 90 km west of Antalya at the arctic end of the bay of the aforementioned name. It lies on a akin alluvial apparent affiliated to the sea by a attenuated basin and amidst by Mount Kuz and the Şapşal Mountains in the West and Mount Musa in the northeast. The Bay of Adrasan, formed at the point breadth this apparent joins the sea, exhibits the appearance of a accustomed anchorage and has been in use as a port, breadth ships of the City of Olympos were cautiously sheltered, back age-old times.

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Travelling westward from Demre to Kaş and reaching the main highway which after the 6th km heads towards the south, one arrives at the Sura Village consisting of a few houses by the side of the road. To the west of the village are the remains of the acropolis city Sura situated on top of the hill, 80 metres high. The name Sura is derived from the word “Soaura” which meant “great and sacred Swa/Soa” in the Luwian/Etruscan language. As a matter of fact, in ancient times, there used to be a temple dedicated to Men, the Anatolian Moon and Light god, and a centre for prophecy in the city. Apollon, formerly Men, was, as in the whole of Lycia, venerated in this area, too, and names of the temple and the centre for prophecy became “Apollon Soura”. According to Painus’ account, the monks in the prophecy temple used to dip pieces of fish on skewers in the water and prophesize according to the shapes of the fish within the water.

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To the west of the highway Antalya – Fethiye, after passing by the town Eşen and climbing up the village Minare 5 km to the south, one arrives at the remains of the ancient city Pınara. Obviously, the city was “Pinale”, a Luwian settlement, thousands of years old. The abundance of round form rocks in the south of the Cragus mountains and the meaning of the name Pinale being “round” in the original language confirm this thesis.

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Serik is a town and district in Antalya Province of Turkey, 38 km east of the city of Antalya, along the Mediterranean coast.

Geography:
Towards the coast the district is mainly flat farmland, used for growing vegetables, while the inland half of Serik is forested hills and the Taurus Mountains. The district has a typical Mediterranean climate of hot, dry summers and warm, wet winters, and the natural vegetation is dry shrubs.

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