Antalya-Antalya (linguists and tour operators cannot decide which version of the name is correct) is not only a passive holiday on the seashore. The All-Russian health resort has a lot of interesting things beyond the beach area.

Story

King Attalus II, nicknamed Philadelphus (that is, Brotherlyub), patron of the sciences and arts, reigned in 159-138 BC. e. in Pergamon.

The ancient city of Pergamum, also known as Pergamon, according to a number of versions, is the birthplace of parchment (in any case, it was widely used there), a new generation of writing utensils suitable for reusable use, in contrast to the obsolete disposable papyrus. According to some data, parchment was invented as a result of the ban on the export of papyrus from Egypt, introduced to preserve the status of the main library of Alexandria there (the library in Pergamon was the second most important in the ancient world). And parchment was allegedly invented by King Eumenes I, the great-uncle of Attalus II.

The brotherly love of Attalus II is evidenced by a story told by Plutarch. In 172, a rumor spread that King Eumenes II had been killed at Delphi (hired assassins threw two huge stones onto him from a cliff; one hit him in the shoulder, the other in the head). Brother Attalus immediately took the vacant throne and married the widow of Eumenes Stratonice, daughter of the ruler of Cappadocia. When some time later it was discovered that Eumenes was only wounded and was being treated, Attalus returned his wife to his brother with an apology. He accepted the apology and his wife, but seemed to retain some unpleasant feelings. And for a long time he did not want to recognize as his son and legal heir the child born shortly after this story (before that, the ruling couple had not had children for 16 years). After Eumenes died, Attalus II finally received, after a 13-year wait, the opportunity to take the throne and marry Stratonice again - this time without any complications.

In 150 BC. e. Attalus II founded the city, which was then called Attalia. The city of Pergamon has sunk into oblivion, and in its place today is the Turkish settlement of Bergama, to put it mildly, not very popular among tourists. But the city created by Attalus II has been living for the third millennium.

Attalia is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles - the apostles Paul and Barnabas, “passing through Pisidia, came to Pamphylia and, having preached the word of the Lord in Perga, went down to Attalia” (Acts 14:25-26). Attalia later became an important regional center of the Byzantine Empire.

At the beginning of the 13th century, the city fell to the Seljuks, and two centuries later it passed to the Ottomans. During the Seljuk period of history, the famous Arab traveler Ibn Batuta visited the city. In his work with the flowery title “A gift to observers regarding the wonders of countries and wonders of travel,” you can read the following: “From Alanya I headed to Adalya, the most beautiful city. It is spread over a very large territory, but, despite its size, it is one of the most attractive towns that can be seen anywhere, although overcrowded, and very well laid out, each group of its inhabitants lives in a separate quarter. The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the city, known as Mina (port), surrounded by a wall, the gates of which. are closed to them at night and during Friday services. The Greeks, its past inhabitants, live separately, in their own quarter, the Jews - in theirs, and the ruler with his courtiers and Mamluks - in his own, each of these quarters is surrounded by a wall in a similar way. The rest are Muslims. They live in the main part of the city. Around the entire city and the listed quarters there is another huge wall. The city has many orchards in which beautiful fruits ripen, including a delicious variety of apricots called “Moon of Faith”, with a sweet pit. This variety is dried and sold to Egypt, where it is revered for great luxury."

As we see, Ibn Batuta’s city is no longer Attalia, but not yet Antalya.

The wall described by the great explorer was the city border almost until the end of World War II, after which the city began to grow rapidly. Today, the historical center of Antalya is most often called Kaleici.

Kaleici

Nowadays, the residents of Kaleici are not separated from each other according to nationality and religious affiliation; a multicultural tourist crowd moves freely throughout the old part of the city. In the former Roman port you can see a yacht flying almost any flag. A street vendor selling freshly squeezed orange juice extols his wares and communicates with customers in an eerie mixture of several European languages. He takes money, of course, but he doesn’t spare oranges.

The historical center of the city is a state-protected architectural zone; new construction that threatens to change the appearance of the area is practically prohibited, and the few ugly modern buildings that were erected in Kaleici are condemned to destruction in the near future. Everything else has been restored in an exemplary manner. You can walk for a long time along the narrow winding streets and, raising your head, look at the decoration of authentic buildings, no matter what is in them today - a boarding house, a restaurant, a trading shop with carpets. You have to raise your head because the first (ground) traditional floor is just a wall without windows, everything interesting is located above.

The correct way to enter the ancient walls of Kaleici is through the huge white marble gates, built in 130 AD. e. in honor of the visit of the Roman Emperor Hadrian to the city (the gate is called that).

If you want to refresh yourself with something, you should focus on the high Hidirlik Tower, above which the national Turkish flag flies. There are many cafes and restaurants near the tower, where you can sit and admire a wonderful view of the old city.

Praise for baklava

Turkish cuisine is the heir to Ottoman cuisine, a close relative of Armenian and Cypriot, and is closely related to other culinary traditions of the Mediterranean, the Middle East and the Balkans.

The main ingredients of Turkish cooking include meat, primarily lamb. Chicken is also popular. Pork, of course, is not on the national menu. Lamb in the form of shish kebab is especially good (Russians are more accustomed to calling this dish “kebab”, and ignorant English-speaking tourists constantly confuse it with barbecue). Under the name "doner kebab" on the Turkish streets they sell something very reminiscent (outwardly) of Moscow shawarma and St. Petersburg shawarma. And there are also meatballs-kufta (besides, kufta in Antalya is not similar to kufta in, say, Istanbul), kuzu güvec - lamb stewed with vegetables. And also Turkish pasturma, little distinguishable from the again familiar basturma in Moscow.

Pide flatbreads, pita bread and other local bread products are always consumed on the same day they were baked (or better within minutes after baking).

One of the main products of Turkish cuisine is eggplant. Its name in Turkish sounds like the game of broken telephone - patlikan (halfway between Russia and Turkey, in Bulgaria - patlajan). Cheese and eggplant sauce goes very well with young lamb shish kebab. Eggplant can be added to a dish not only after frying, but also long before - in the marinade. It would be very helpful to accompany the kebab with eggplant salad. The combination of eggplant with onions, garlic, parsley, black pepper and cold tomatoes gives us the dish known far beyond Turkey, imam bayaldi, which can be translated as “the spiritual mentor fainted”). Hot eggplant rolls with minced meat and the ingredients listed above are karny yaryk. The translation is again pleasing: “the belly is cut.”

Sarma, also known as dolma, is well known in Russia - meat wrapped in grape leaves (continuing linguistic comments - the words “sarymag” and “dolmag” can be translated as “wrap” and “fill”). In the Turkish regions, dolma-sarma can be very different: with minced sheep's offal; with regular minced meat and dried fruits, with mussels, with vegetarian filling, etc. There are also confectionery variations, for example, fistik sarma - a sweet similar in appearance to dolma with the addition of pistachios.

According to legend, from the words “bak, lava,” that is, “look, sweet,” “baklava” is a Turkish delicacy made from dough with nuts and honey. There is a lot of baklava in Antalya. Turkish delight too. In general, there are plenty of sweets, which is typical for a country where alcohol is not very popular. At any resort gift shop, you're almost guaranteed to have something sweet on sale - three boxes for the price of two, five for the price of three, etc.

Lion's milk of the Danish king

The main traditional strong drink is 45 proof (sometimes less strong, sometimes more - up to 50) grape-anise vodka raki. It’s easier to find excellent raki in some small town in the center of the country, where no tourist has set foot. In Antalya you will have to settle for not the best. In addition, not all Russians like crayfish. Some people get used to it over time, but others, for example those who were tortured as a child with the medicine “Danish King’s Drops,” which has the same anise flavor, cannot. Another local tradition is also unusual for us. Instead of immediately slamming the shot glass, like all normal people, the locals dilute the drink with water almost three times, which is why it takes on a cloudy milky color. This is probably why crayfish are called lion's milk. Sometimes ice is added. They snack on this drink with all the variety of Turkish cuisine - first cheese, imam bayaldi, other cold appetizers - in small portions in a large assortment; this set of snacks is called “mezze” (of course, no one forbids eating them without raki). Then they move on to kebabs. To finish, you can sober up a little with Turkish coffee (with baklava and Turkish delight, why not?). When drinking raki, a principle operates, the authorship of which is for some reason attributed to the poet Rasim, who lived in the 19th century - he argued that you first need to quickly get drunk from the first glass, and then cherish the resulting state, slowly sipping further ones.

Where there is?

Of course, in tourist Antalya there are a lot of restaurants that specialize not in national cuisine, but in Italian, Mexican, French, Japanese, kosher - whatever you want. The Turks themselves are equally happy to snack not only on their native lahmacun, which looks like pizza (an oven-baked flatbread with minced meat and spices), but also on the Italian version of pizza, which, apparently, out of patriotism, they prefer to wash down with ayran. By the way, about borrowing. For those who are familiar with the Russian version of street fast food in the form of stuffed potatoes, I recommend trying the same dish in Antalya to understand what it should really be like.

As for ayran, this fermented milk drink has a useful feature - it makes Turkish cuisine easier for those who don’t like spicy food.

The restaurants mentioned below are completely subjective. This is not a rating, not an advertisement - just advice that you don’t have to follow.

The Vanilla Lounge restaurant is located in the very center of Kaleici, that is, the old town in Antalya, next to the five-star Alp Pasa Hotel (following the signs directing to the hotel, it is easy to find the restaurant). There is an English chef in the restaurant, maybe that’s why his compatriots make up the majority of visitors. In addition to a well-designed interior and carefully selected tableware, which is, in general, traditional for the Anglo-Saxons, Vanilla Lounge, naturally, can also offer delicious food. The cuisine is predominantly European, although the menu includes Turkish dishes and even Thai curry. The steaks are very good (which may be pleasant for those who are tired of the ubiquitous kebabs). Homemade red wine goes great with steaks, fried according to the guest's preferences.

Restaurant Mermerli is also located in the old town, on the seashore. It is quite logical that in addition to national cuisine, the menu of the establishment always includes fresh fish - you can choose a specific one, and they will cook it for you. Among the other advantages of this establishment, it is worth noting the romantic view of the sea; perhaps the only drawback is the prices. If you take good wine and good fish, the bill size may well approach the Moscow level.

And finally, advice for those who like a wide selection without long searches. The newly opened Mardan Palace Hotel has 24 bars and restaurants offering Thai, Japanese, French, Mediterranean, Russian, Middle Eastern, Balkan and of course Turkish cuisine. Plus 3850 wines from no lesser geography.

ALEXEY ALEXEEV

Antalya – Money – Kommersant