Antalya, the city of legends.
Antalya has been home to many civilizations that are important to the history of civilizations. We
have compiled seven legends dating from these civilizations for you.
Have a great read…
1 - Shaking Lake
Once upon a time there was an old fisherman living by the lake. He fed the birds by the lake as well
as fishing. The birds flew towards him when they spotted him by the lake. Some day, hunters who
hunt by the lake shoot the ducks. The old man tries to stop the hunters. The hunters push the man
into the lake and pick up the ducks that fall into the lake. Having seeing this, the other ducks take off
and form a whirlwind by flapping altogether. The hunters run away. Then the lake shakes. Locals
interpret this as the birds’ cry for the old man.
2 – Belkıs Legend – Aspendos
There was a girl named Belkıs who lived in the city of Aspendos and was also the King’s daughter
during the time of Romans. Two talented architects were in love with this girl. The King decided to
hold a competition to see to whom his daughter should have married. He invited the architects and
informed them “Whoever does something more beneficial to the city will get married to my
daughter”. The two architects rolled up their sleeves and got down to work. One of them built an
aqueduct to meet the water need for the city. The other one built the glorious Aspendos theater. The
King who was torn between these two beautiful works wanted to test the two men to see who loved
his daughter more and said to them “Both works are great, so I will cut my daughter into two and
share her out equally for you. One of the architects was not content with this. He said that he
forsook Belkıs and that she could get married to the other architect. Hearing this and being sure
about his love, the King decided to marry his daughter to him. In another version of the story, the
King cuts the girl into two.
3 – Eleni’s tears in Alanya Castle
Vasili, the Pirate, repeatedly looted the land of Argiles, The Feudal Landlord. Fed up with this, Argiles
decided to marry his daughter, Eleni, to this man, however Eleni didn’t want to marry him as she
loved a poor shepherd. Argiles, whose ego was hurt by his daughter’s disobedience, wanted to lock
her up in a prison in Alanya Castle to teach her a lesson. The small cell where she was locked up had
a very small window overlooking the Damlataş beach. His father’s goal was to make the girl see the
beauty of Alanya, come back to life in order not to be kept away from these beauties and be content
with marriage. However, what was expected to happen did not happen. She didn’t think of getting
married to the pirate. With the tears she kept shedding through that small window, she watered a
lime hill stretching out to Damlataş. In the course of time, pomegranate, elaeagnus and daphne grew
over there. Locals remember Eleni’s sobbing whenever it rains.
4 – Santa Claus
Saint Nicholas, who is known worldwide as Santa Claus, is believed to have been born as the son of a
wealthy wheat merchant in Patara, a city of Likia around 270 AD. When his father dies, he becomes
the sole inheritor for the fortune left behind and wants to spend this fortune for the poor.
Meanwhile, someone who used to be rich in the city has become poor now and can’t afford the
dowry of his daughters. Having seen this, Saint Nicholas wants to help them. He makes his way to
the daughters’ house at nighttime in order to hide himself and to avoid hurting their pride. When
everyone is in sleep, he drops a small bag filled with gold through the open window of the older girl.
He drops the dowry fee down through the chimney for the other two girls as their windows are
closed. This is where the story of Santa Claus dropping the presents down through the chimney
originates from.
5 – The Legend Of The Sleeping Giant in Kaş
When you look ahead from many points of Kaş, you will see a male giant silhouette lying on a
mountain. This lying giant is known as The Sleeping Giant. The female giant is on Meis Island. Rumor
has it that when the seawater touches every part of these two giants’ bodies, they will wake up and
meet each other.
6 – The Flaming Rocks (Çıralı) and Belerophontes Legend
Hipponoes, the son of Ephyra King killed his brother Belleros in a hunting party and was given the
name Bellerophontes that meant “Belloros Eater”. Expelled from Ephyra, this young man took refuge
in Argos King. Not willing to kill the young man, the King sent him over to the Likia King. And this King
sent him over to a monster named Chimera on the Olympos mountain for a fight instead of killing
him. The monster had a goat body, a snake tail and a lion head and it threw flames out of its mouth.
The young man went over to fight against it with his winged horse named Pegassos. When Chimera
attacked, the winged horse took off and the young man sent the monster going seven layers down to
the earth. Chimera began spreading flames above from the seven layers in the earth. The flames
coming up to the surface are this monster’s flames.
7 – Eğri Göl Legend (Curved Lake Legend)
Once upon a time a beautiful girl and a brave young man fell in love with each other. With their
fathers’ approval, they got engaged and started waiting for the wedding day. The young man who
didn’t complete his military service was finally called up to the army. Having waited for the young
man to come back, the girl was informed that the young man died a martyr, which devastated her.
After some time, the girl’s father wanted her to get married to someone else and got her engaged
with another man. Still in love with the young man, the girl got on the horse helplessly on the
wedding day and started the journey for a new life with the tears in her eyes. When the wedding
caravan arrived somewhere around present Eğri Göl, the girl prayed in pain “God, let me in this water
and meet my beloved one or make me a bird and set me free”. With God’s will, the girl turned into
water. The water boiled and formed a lake. A 2-km distance around the lake is curved as the form of
the wedding caravan was curved. Since then, locals have said that a beam of light comes up from the
lake on Fridays at the time when the wedding caravan got lost.
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