Kaleiçi, Antalya's walled old town, is best known for its Roman gate and its fluted Seljuk minaret, but its quieter corners tell just as much about the city: a busy modern square, a small mosque by the water, a Seljuk school, a Greek church, a house that remembers the founder of modern Turkey and a clifftop park. This guide links those six places, from the top of the old town down to the harbour and out along the cliffs.
Republic Square (Cumhuriyet Meydanı)
Republic Square is Antalya's main square and the natural starting point for any walk into the old town. It is named after the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923, and is a busy meeting place for both visitors and people from Antalya. It sits right above Kaleiçi, so from the terrace nearby you look down over the red roofs to the harbour and across the Gulf of Antalya to the mountains on the far side. It is also the first stop of our Antalya scavenger hunt.
- The terrace by the square, one of the best places to get your bearings before you head down into the lanes.
- The view over the old harbour and the mountains across the bay, which is especially clear in the morning.
Iskele Mosque
Down at the bottom of Kaleiçi, close to the old harbour, stands the Iskele Mosque, built in the 19th century. Its name comes from the Turkish word iskele, which means a pier or landing stage, and it fits: it sits right by the marina, among the boats and the cafés on the quay. It is one of the stops of our scavenger hunt.
- Its setting between the cliffs and the boats, which is why it appears in so many photos of the harbour.
- The quay in front of it, a good place to sit with a tea; visit the mosque outside prayer times and dress modestly if you go in.
Karatay Medrese
Inside Kaleiçi is one of the old town's Seljuk buildings, the Karatay Medrese, an Islamic school built in 1250 by Emir Celaleddin Karatay. Karatay was a powerful vizier of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum who died in 1254, and he is better known for the Karatay Madrasa in Konya, the Seljuk capital, which he founded in 1251 and which has been a museum of tile art since 1954. The Antalya medrese shows that Antalya, taken by the Seljuks in the early 13th century, was an important city of their state, with schools as well as mosques and minarets.
The Yenikapı Greek Church
In the Yenikapı quarter of the old town, whose name means "new gate", stands a Greek Orthodox church, the Yenikapı Rum Kilisesi; Rum is the Turkish word for the Greek Orthodox community of the former Ottoman lands. It recalls the Greek families who lived in Kaleiçi for centuries, alongside their Muslim neighbours. Like the rest of the Greek Orthodox population of Turkey, they had to leave after the convention on the population exchange signed by Greece and Turkey in Lausanne on 30 January 1923, when more than a million Greek Orthodox people left Turkey and several hundred thousand Muslims left Greece. The church is one of the stops of our scavenger hunt.
The Atatürk House Museum
The Atatürk House Museum is devoted to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic, and is housed in a house in the old part of the city linked to his time in Antalya. Several Turkish cities have a museum like this one, and a visit is a good way to understand how much the founding of the Republic in 1923 still shapes the way the country remembers its own history. It sits on the walk between the old town and the cliffs, so it is easy to combine with the other places in this guide. It is one of the stops of our scavenger hunt.
Karaalioğlu Park
Just south of Kaleiçi, Karaalioğlu Park is a large green space along the top of the cliffs. It is where people from Antalya come in the evening to walk, sit on the benches and watch the sun set over the Gulf of Antalya, and from its edge you look down on the old harbour and across the water to the mountains. The park also holds the mayor's office and the Municipal City Theatre, and at its edge stands the Roman Hıdırlık Tower, the last stop of our scavenger hunt. You can walk there from the old town or take the tram.
- The Nâzım Hikmet monument, put up in 2010 on the 47th anniversary of the poet's death.
- The statue of Don Quixote and the Worker and Son monument among the trees.
- Smaller sculptures scattered through the park, including a giant hand and a group of frogs, which children enjoy finding.
How to see them in one walk
Start at Republic Square and take in the view from the terrace. Walk down into Kaleiçi and follow the lanes to the old harbour and the Iskele Mosque. Climb back up through the old town to the Karatay Medrese, then continue to the Yenikapı quarter for the Greek church and on to the Atatürk House Museum. Finish in Karaalioğlu Park, ideally late in the afternoon, so you can watch the sunset from the cliffs. The lanes are steep in places and the summer heat is strong, so take breaks in the shade and carry water.
See Antalya with World City Trail
Our Antalya scavenger hunt turns Kaleiçi into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Republic Square to Hıdırlık Tower, and Republic Square, the Iskele Mosque, the Yenikapı Greek church and the Atatürk House Museum are all stops, along with the Toy Museum, the Yivli Minaret, the statue of King Attalus II, the Clock Tower and Hadrian's Gate. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Antalya, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Antalya scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Antalya →
Play the outdoor escape game in Antalya →
Facts checked in October 2026.