Photograph of Alaya, 1916

An exceptionally valuable historical record of Alaya (Alanya)—the coastal Greek and Asia Minor settlement—as it appeared in the early 20th century. The photograph depicts the town built amphitheatrically on a steep slope, with predominantly Greek houses densely spreading high up the hillside. Rare in both quality and clarity, the image confirms the strongly traditional character of the town before the profound transformations that followed after 1922.
In the foreground, the shoreline and a small boat floating on calm waters can be seen; the serenity of the scene contrasts with the imposing presence of the medieval Ottoman–Seljuk fortifications in the background. To the right and left stands the large Seljuk shipyard (Tersane), one of the best-preserved in the Eastern Mediterranean, with its characteristic arches opening directly onto the sea. Slightly higher up rises the famous Red Tower (Kızıl Kule), the emblem of Alaya, which still dominates the city’s skyline today.
The photograph was taken during the First World War (1916, as noted in the caption) and forms part of the archive of a European traveller or military figure, a context in which meticulous handwritten documentation of locations and dates was customary. The signature and numbering indicate that it belongs to a systematic photographic survey of the region.
The value of the photograph lies in its depiction of an Alaya that no longer exists: the old Greek quarters prior to the Population Exchange, the manner in which the town was built along the rocky slope, the traditional wooden houses of both Greeks and Turks, and the settlement’s intimate relationship with the sea, which was decisive for the economic and social life of its inhabitants.
After the expulsion, Turkish residents removed reusable building materials—primarily from the upper floors of the mansions, which were traditionally constructed of wood (while the ground floors were stone)—and looted valuables and furnishings left behind by the Greeks. Similar acts of plunder took place in the churches of the Greek quarter within the Castle of Alaya and in the Greek cemeteries. A telling example is that of a marble tombstone from the Greek cemetery of the Archangels, carved with a cross, a laurel wreath, and the names of the deceased in Karamanlidika script, which was discovered being used as a dough-working surface in a Turkish shop. Today, it is preserved in the Alanya Museum.