The Red Tower |
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The Red Tower (Kızıl Kule) was built in 1226. The five-storey tower is octagonal. The main support structure of the tower also serves as a cistern. The bottom floor of the tower is now an ethnographic museum. After capturing Alanya in 1221, Sultan Aladdin Keykubat gives an order to build a monument which will ensure that Alanya, the symbol of the Turkish rule over the seas, will always stay under the sovereignty of the Turks. Kizil Kule, which still stands strong in its grandeur as it was the day it was built, is named after the reddish stones used in the lower section also after the bricks in the upper section. The cut stones used in the lower section of the tower are believed to be brought from the east of the Dim Strait. Due to the site that Kizil Kule is built on, there is 2 meters difference in elevation between the west Side and the east side of the tower. Therefore the height in the east side is 35 meters and the height in the west side is 33 meters. Portraying a smooth octagonal shape the tower is of five storeys. At Kizil Kule, the section which rises up to the fourth floor right in the middle forms the backbone of the tower, is also used as an extension of the museum to exhibit ethnographic artifacts used around Alanya. It is known that water requirement throughout the year was met by collecting the rain water into the cistern during the winter months with the use of small conduits around the tower. After capturing Alanya in 1221, Sultan Aladdin Keykubat gives an order to build a monument which will ensure that Alanya, the symbol of the Turkish rule over the seas, will always stay under the sovereignty of the Turks. Kizil Kule, which still stands strong in its grandeur as it was the day it was built, is named after the reddish stones used in the lower section also after the bricks in the upper section. The cut stones used in the lower section of the tower are believed to be brought from the east of the Dim Strait. Due to the site that Kizil Kule is built on, there is 2 meters difference in elevation between the west side and the east side of the tower. Therefore the height in the east side is 35 meters and the height in the west side is 33 meters. Portraying a smooth octagonal shape the tower is of five storeys. At Kizil Kule, the section which rises up to the fourth floor right in the middle forms the backbone of the tower, is also used as an extension of the museum to exhibit ethnographic artifacts used around Alanya. It is known that water requirement throughout the year was met by collecting the rain water into the cistern during the winter months with the use of small conduits around the tower. |
