Ninety seconds on Hıdırlık Tower
Sunset over the Gulf of Antalya is best seen from the cliff terrace at the far end of Kaleiçi, where you look across the water to the Taurus Mountains. An old stone tower stands beside it, with excavated ruins around its base.
Hıdırlık Tower is a 14-metre drum of stone on a square base, standing on the cliffs south of the old harbour. The two shapes are two building stages, both believed to date from the 2nd century: the square storey first, as part of the city walls, and the round one soon after.
The newer draw lies around the base, where years of excavation have opened up the ground beside the tower. Through the glass you can pick out walls and foundations, broken columns and mosaic floors, among them an inscribed mosaic with a dolphin.
Look too for the outlines of two bathhouses and a small building that may have been an early Byzantine chapel. Below the tower the cliff drops towards the harbour, and from the edge you can watch yachts passing in and out of the bay.
The glass walkway round the tower comes first, while the light is still good for looking down through the panels. Then circle the tower to its entrance on the east side, where a small room leads to a narrow stair to the top. Go in only if that door is open.
The cliff terrace at the edge is the last stop, behind a glass railing that leaves the view over the sea and the mountains open. Stay for the sunset, then walk back through Karaalioğlu Park. Street musicians often play around the tower in the evening, and the area is a popular place to linger after dark.
Coming from Karaalioğlu Park? Stay on the clifftop path to the tower rather than going back through the old town. The approach is uneven, so pick shoes that grip.
Shade is limited around the tower, so carry sun protection on a summer afternoon, or come in the last hour before sunset when the heat has eased.
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