[3] Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera,[4] Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Taurus Mountains.

With moisture being trapped, the local climate thus has high winter rainfall, while the interior bay setting result in very hot summers for a coastal city.

Antalya is currently the fourth-most visited city in the world, trailing behind only Istanbul, London, and Dubai, attracting more than 16.5 million foreign visitors in 2023.

[9][10] The city was founded as "Attaleia" (Ancient Greek: Ἀττάλεια), named after its founder Attalos II, king of Pergamon.

Excavations in 2008, in the Doğu Garajı plot, uncovered remains dating to the 3rd century BC, suggesting that Attaleia was a rebuilding and expansion of an earlier town.

Christianity started to spread to the region even in the 1st century: Attaleia was visited by Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.

[citation needed] The archaeological museum at Attaleia houses some sarcophagi and mosaics from nearby Perga and a casket of bones reputed to be those of St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra, further down the Turquoise coast.

Following the Sack of Constantinople by the Crusaders in 1204, Niketas Choniates records that Attaleia was the personal fiefdom of a certain Aldebrandus, "an Italian by birth who was strictly raised according to Roman tradition".

When Kaykhusraw, sultan of the Seljuk Turks attempted to capture the city in 1206, Aldebrandus called Cyprus for help and received 200 infantry from the Latins.

The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the town known as the Mina [the Port], and are surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut upon them from without at night and during the Friday service.

The town contains orchards and produces fine fruits, including an admirable kind of apricot, called by them Qamar ad-Din, which has a sweet almond in its kernel.

This fruit is dried and exported to Egypt, where it is regarded as a great luxury.In the second half of the 17th century Evliya Çelebi wrote of a city of narrow streets containing 3,000 houses in 20 Turkish and four Greek neighborhoods.

The family of Tekke Oğlu, domiciled near Perge had been reduced to submission in 1812 by Mahmud II, but continued to be a rival power to the Ottoman governor until the early 20th century, surviving by many years the fall of the other great beys of Anatolia.

Antalya also had a tiny Armenian population which had a church on the street of "Hamam çikmazi" named Hovhannes Surp Garabed, which was later on demolished.

[citation needed] Large-scale development beginning in the 1970s transformed Antalya from a pastoral town into one of Turkey's largest metropolitan areas.

Antalya Metropolitan Municipality's covered wholesale food market complex meets 65% of the fresh fruit and vegetable demand of the province.

[50][51] It is surrounded by two walls in the shape of a horsenail, one of which is along the seafront, built in a continuous process from Hellenistic to Ottoman times.

With high rates of immigration since the 1970s, this area contains large gecekondu neighborhoods that are not well-integrated into the fabric of the city and suffer from poor economic conditions and insufficient education.

Other modern recreational areas include 3 aquaparks in the city, Konyaaltı, Lara beaches, Beachpark especially for summer holidays, while Saklıkent also has facilities for skiing in the winter months.

Being the capital of the fifth most populous province in Turkey, Antalya is politically strategic and has been a target for the governing right-wing Justice and Development Party (AKP).

The AKP won a plurality in Antalya in the 2007 general election, symbolising the city's political transformation from a CHP stronghold to a CHP-AKP marginal battleground in the 21st century.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) also have a strong political base in Antalya, winning approximately between 15 and 25% of the vote in elections since 2007.

The CHP subsequently accused the AKP of systematic electoral fraud, and the presence of government minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu at one of the vote counting centres drew strong condemnation.

The city hosts a number of international sports competitions due to its longer lasting warm weather condition.

The event runs eastward on a route of around 220–240 km (140–150 mi) from Ölüdeniz in Fethiye district of Muğla Province to Antalya in six days.

[66] Antalya's signature cuisine includes piyaz (made with tahini, garlic, walnuts, and boiled beans), şiş köfte (spicy meatball which is cooked around a stick) spicy hibeş with mixed cumin and tahini, tandır kebap, domates civesi, şakşuka, and various cold Mediterranean dishes with olive oil.

Halkkart is managed by A-Kent Smart City Technologies under the control of Antalya Metropolitan Municipal government.

[76] A tram system, opened in 1999, runs from Antalya Museum, and the Sheraton Voyager and Falez hotels, along the main boulevard through the city center at Kalekapisi, Hadrian's Gate, Karaalioglu Park, and ending at Talya Oteli.

In December 2009, an 11.1-kilometre (6.9 mi) light rail line Antray was opened from one of the main city public bus hubs northwest to beyond suburban areas and the zoo.

Antalya is the southern terminus of European route E87, which connects to Korkuteli, Denizli, İzmir, Çanakkale, Edirne in Turkey, along with Varna in Bulgaria, Constanta in Romania and Odesa in Ukraine.