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witnessed another great period of
development and was adorned with works of
Seljuk architecture, some of which can
still be seen today. Heading the list of
remains still standing in Antalya are its
city walls. These horseshoe-shaped
fortifications gird the harbor and the
ancient city surrounding it. They were
built on the second century A.D.
Hellenistic foundations and underwent
alterations in nearly every subsequent
period.
Another work popularly known as Kesik
Minare (Truncated Minaret) is especially
interesting, because its building history
stretches all the way from Roman to
Ottoman times. It was originally the site
of a temple and then a church was built,
reusing the masonry in the 6th century
A.D., and finally converted to a mosque by
the addition of a minaret by Beyazit I.
Following the severe damage it suffered
from a major fire, in the 9th century, it
was later abandoned.
The Yivli (fluted) minaret and the
building complex around it were
constructed during the 13th century
reflecting Anatolian Seljuk-Turkish
architecture at its best. This minaret,
the finest Seljuk monument in Antalya, has
become its symbol. It was commissioned
during the reign of Sultan Alaeddin
Keykubat, who reigned between 1219-1238.
Now the center of Antalya's leisure
complex, the ancient city center and
harbor, enclosed by the sea and land walls
is today called "Kaleici" (inner bailey).
Its restoration was completed in 1982 and
was awarded the French "Pomme d'Or".
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