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Antalya
The city of stretches along the bay bearing its name, and is built at
39 meters altitude on a rocky coastline. One is immediately struck by the
Taurus mountains rising to 3086 meters above this coastline, intersperesed
withvalleys of varying sizes. Land and sea everywhere meet the beaches
stretching for miles or the steep cliffs. The Taurus mountains against the
blue backdrop of the sky, the precipices and especially the caves close to
the sea add another dimension to the beauty of the region.
Small and large streams emerging
from the west side of the Taurus water the plains on their journey to the
Mediterranean. This translucent running water, cascading into the sea at
points along the coast, is another attractive sight.
The plant life of Antalya is
extremely varied. Every kind of tropical plant can be found along the
coast. Visitors to Antalya are struck by the size attained by the
different species of cactus. When you reach the foothills of the Taurus,
you will see they are covered in the typical Mediterranean maquis, while
the forests are full of thriving oaks and pine trees. The coton and sesame
plantations and citrus and banana groves of the plains have a beauty of
their own.
In Antalya the four seasons only
appear on the calendar, as there is no real winter here, so much so that
when in 1985 for the first time in 60 years snow fell, it was front page
news.
The summers are hot and rainless
while the other months are warm and often rainy, with a mean annual
temperature of 18.7 °C. On average there is no rain for 309.5 days a year.
It is very rare for the temperature to drop below zero. During the last 40
years the highest recorded temperature was 44.6 °C. In Antalya the average
humidty rate is 64%, whereas the seat temperatures are 17.6 °C in January,
18.0 °C in April, 27.7 °C in August and 24.5 °C in September.
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