Turkey · 13th century
The Red Tower (Turkish: Kızıl Kule) is a historical tower in the Turkish city of Alanya. The building is considered to be the symbol of the city, and is used on the city's flag.
Construction of the building began in the early reign of the Anatolian Seljuq Sultan Ala ad-Din Kay Qubadh I and was completed in 1226. The sultan brought the accomplished architect Ebu Ali Reha from Aleppo, Syria, to Alanya to complete the building. The octagonal red brick tower protects the Tersane (shipyard) which dates from 1221.
The name derives from the more red color brick he used in its construction. The building itself is 33 m (108 ft) high and 12.5 m (41 ft) wide. It remains a fine example of medieval military architecture, and is the best preserved Seljuk building in the city.
In 1979 the city opened the Ethnographic Museum of Alanya inside of the tower. Besides providing visitors with a history of the tower and town, the museum gives attention to the heraldry, in particular the Seljuq double headed eagle that is used on the city flag.
The tower was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish 250,000 lira banknotes from 1992 to 2005.
Text adapted from “Red Tower (Alanya)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Kızıl Kule ranks #1,302 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #29 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded 1226, it is older than 73% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 3,134 times in the last 60 days, more than 79% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.
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