The Legend of Hıdırlık Tower

Hıdırlık Tower stands as a landmark tower of tawny stone where the land walls meet Karaalioğlu Park.

Regarding its origin and commission, it is believed that the ruling Roman Empire built it in the second century CE, and some sources specifically think the Roman Emperor Hadrian had it constructed.

Architecturally, the 14-metre-high structure consists of a circular tower rising on a quadratic pedestal.

Constructed with tawny stone, the tower features a gate at the eastern side leading to a small room, from where a narrow staircase inside a corridor goes up to the upper level.

Its function and daily use changed over time, serving as a lighthouse, a lookout tower for ships arriving in the gulf, a military outpost under the Byzantines, and a fortification.

Due to fresco remnants on the walls of the lower room that were fading over centuries from water leakage, some sources point to the structure being a hero's tomb.

Regarding damage, repair, and change over time, signs of restoration work on the upper part done in the Seljuk and Ottoman eras are visible.

What a visitor encounters today is a structure situated at the southern side where the land walls join the sea walls, featuring a viewing area around a thick wall mass on the upper floor.

Its current name, Hıdırlık, literally meaning a place of Khidr, is connected in oral tradition and belief to the Hıdırellez spring festival where Khidr and Elijah are believed to meet once each year.

In later historical events, from 1919 to 1922, the fortification and Antalya itself were occupied by Italy, after which irregular Turkish forces started an armed rebellion leading to the Italian retreat and transfer of the city to Mustafa Kemal's forces.