# Alanya Shipyard (Tersane) > The Alanya Shipyard (Tersane) is a 13th-century Seljuk dry dock: five vaulted arches opening onto the sea, about 200 m south of the Red Tower, now a small maritime museum. Allow 30 minutes. Sources disagree on the entrance fee — free, or a ticket often combined with the Red Tower; the castle complex it belongs to opens daily in daytime. Web page: https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard - City: [Alanya](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya), Turkey - YesGo score: 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 30 min - Entry: Price being verified - With kids: Fine with kids - Entrance fee: Sources disagree: free, or a ticket — on its own or combined with the Red Tower — verifying - Opening times: Castle complex: daily 8:00–18:30, desk until 18:00 - Time needed: ≈ 30 minutes; 1.5 hours with the Red Tower - Getting there: Walk from the Red Tower along the sea wall: ≈ 200 m as the crow flies, a few minutes - Payment: Bring both a bank card and some Turkish lira in cash - Address: South of the Red Tower, at the water below the castle hill - Coordinates: 36.53425, 31.99876 - Facts checked: 30.10.2026 ## Key facts - **5 bays** — vaulted dry docks opening straight onto the sea (source: Turkish, Polish and English Wikipedia) - **13th century** — built under the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Turkish Wikipedia; Alanya Municipality) - **Maritime museum** — an old crane, a mast, shipbuilding tools, anchors and navigation instruments in the bays (source: Alanya Municipality; Turkey Tour Organizer guide) - **First** — Seljuk shipyard on the Mediterranean (source: Turkish and Polish Wikipedia) - **Until the 1960s** — boats were still built and repaired here (source: Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism; Alanya Municipality) - **56.5–57 m** — long on the seaward side (source: Turkish and Polish Wikipedia — 56.5 m; Alanya Municipality and English Wikipedia — 57 m) - **40–44 m** — deep: 40 m per the municipality and English Wikipedia, 44 m per the Turkish and Polish articles (source: Alanya Municipality; Turkish, Polish and English Wikipedia) - **7.7 m** — width of each of the five bays; they run 32 to 43 m deep (source: Alanya Municipality) - **1227–1228** — construction began six years after the conquest and took about a year (source: Turkish Wikipedia (1228); Polish Wikipedia (1227)) - **Sultan of Two Seas** — Keykubad’s nickname after building shipyards at Sinop and here (source: Turkish and Polish Wikipedia) - **Mosque and office** — a small mosque right of the entrance; on the left a room — a guardroom per Wikipedia, the yard officials’ office per the municipality (source: Alanya Municipality; Turkish and Polish Wikipedia) - **Sultan’s emblem** — above the entrance, between two rosettes (source: Alanya Municipality; Turkish and Polish Wikipedia) - **Tophane** — a stone tower on the rock above, built to protect the shipyard (source: Turkish Wikipedia; Alanya Municipality (among the sultan’s buildings)) - **Red Tower** — guarded the shipyard and harbour from the sea (source: English Wikipedia; Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism) ## Alanya Shipyard entrance fee and opening hours We can’t quote a price: as of 30.10.2026 neither the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism nor Alanya Municipality publishes one. The Ministry describes the shipyard together with the Red Tower on its **Alanya Castle** page, as a Ship and Maritime Museum open to visitors. Turkish Wikipedia and the Turkey Tour Organizer guide say entry is free. Other guides, on the other hand, describe a paid entrance — a ticket of its own, or a combined ticket with the Red Tower, sometimes with Damlataş Cave too. The amounts they give for different years vary widely, so we don’t repeat them. The castle complex, according to the Ministry, is open **every day 8:00–18:30**, with the ticket desk closing at 18:00. We found nothing confirming the shipyard keeps exactly the same hours — older guides give a shorter day — so they are marked “verifying”. Come in the morning or early afternoon rather than near closing. The MüzeKart pass is valid here for Turkish citizens only. Bring both a bank card and some lira in cash, so whatever the desk accepts, you are covered. > **Is there a combined ticket with the Red Tower?** Several guides mention one covering the Red Tower and the shipyard, but no official page confirms it or gives a price. Since you will usually reach the Red Tower first, ask at its ticket desk whether the shipyard is included. ## How to get to Alanya Shipyard 1. From [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle) at the top of the hill, come down to the harbour by city bus or taxi along **Kale Caddesi** — or walk down through the old lanes, roughly 30–40 minutes. 2. At the harbour, walk south along **İskele Caddesi**, past the restaurants and the boat-trip pier, to the [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower) — about 10 minutes from the town centre. 3. From the Red Tower, walk round the tower and keep going south on the path along the sea wall, with steps in places. The shipyard is about 200 m away as the crow flies, a little more on foot. The entrance faces the old harbour. 4. Prefer not to walk? The shipyard can also be reached by boat, and harbour boat trips sail past the arches — you see the whole yard from the water. 5. From [Cleopatra Beach](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-cleopatra-beach) or Damlataş Cave on the west side of the peninsula, it is 20–25 minutes on foot through the old town, or a short taxi ride to the harbour. ## Is Alanya Shipyard worth visiting? Yes, if you are already at the Red Tower. A few more minutes along the wall and you are standing inside one of the few medieval shipyards left anywhere on the Mediterranean. Half an hour is plenty, and with the tower it makes an easy morning walk by the sea. A wooden walkway inside the bays makes the visit easy. It is not worth a special trip on its own: inside are the vaults and a small maritime display, not a large museum — it makes sense mainly if you are doing the Red Tower anyway. If a stepped path in the midday heat doesn’t appeal, see it from a harbour boat instead — the five arches at the waterline look even better from the sea. ## What is the Tersane? The Tersane is a **Seljuk dry dock from the 13th century** — five tall pointed arches that open directly onto the water. Under these vaults warships were built and repaired, then launched straight into the sea. According to the Ministry of Culture and Alanya Municipality, large boats were built here in winter, idle ships were laid up, and the yard made sails, rigging and ironwork. It was built by Sultan **Alaeddin Keykubad I**, who also put up the Red Tower and rebuilt the castle. The Turkish and Polish Wikipedia articles call it the first Seljuk shipyard on the Mediterranean; the Ministry puts it more cautiously, as one of the few surviving examples of such yards. You enter through a narrow arched door on the old-harbour side. Above it is a five-line inscription with the sultan’s emblem between two rosettes, praising Alaeddin as “sultan of the land and the two seas”. To the right is a small mosque, where restorers found frescoes of the Zulfiqar sword; to the left a room the municipality calls the yard officials’ office and Wikipedia a guardroom. On the rock above stands the Tophane, a tower that covered the yard from above. The sea front is 56.5–57 m long and the building 40–44 m deep, depending on the source. Per the municipality, each of the five bays is 7.7 m wide and 32 to 43 m deep: the yard was built on several levels to cut less rock. ## What to see at the shipyard - **The five pointed docks** — stand at the back of one and look out to sea through the arch, the way the shipwrights saw every launch. - **The vaults** — cut-stone walls with brick arches and vaults; openings in the vaults let in light and let out forge smoke, per the municipality. - **The sultan’s emblem above the entrance**, with its rosettes — easy to miss. - **The little mosque** right of the entrance, with frescoes found during restoration, and the officials’ room on the left. - **The maritime display**, bay by bay: an old crane, the hull of an Ottoman çekevele sailing boat, a mast and yard, shipbuilding tools, a freshwater well, ancient anchors and navigation instruments — as described by Alanya Municipality and the Turkey Tour Organizer guide. - **The Tophane tower** on the rock above the docks. - **The shipyard from the water** — a harbour boat trip shows all five arches at once, the best photo of the place. ## A short history of the Alanya Shipyard In 1221 Alaeddin Keykubad I took the coastal fortress, renamed the town Alaiye after himself and made it the Seljuk naval base on the Mediterranean. A fleet needed a yard. Work began six years after the conquest — 1228 according to Turkish Wikipedia, 1227 according to the Polish article — and took about a year. The sultan had already built a shipyard at Sinop on the Black Sea; yards on two seas earned him the title **Sultan of Two Seas**. The Red Tower, finished in 1226, sealed the harbour and the docks from the sea, while the Tophane guarded them from above. Alanya Municipality notes that the yard was run by a naval commander, the emir of the coast; work went on under the Karamanids and the Ottomans, and Piri Reis described the town, shipyard and harbour in his Book of the Sea in the early 16th century. Boats were built and repaired here until the 1960s — both the Ministry and the municipality say so. Today the bays hold a maritime museum within the Alanya Castle complex. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Going in the morning or early afternoon, not near closing - [ ] Card and some lira in cash, in case there is a fee - [ ] Proper shoes — the path is stone with steps - [ ] Water and a hat — there is little shade by the sea - [ ] 30 minutes for the shipyard plus 45 for the Red Tower - [ ] Checked the harbour boat times — the best view is from the water ## Shipyard vs Red Tower vs Alanya Castle | | Tersane shipyard | Red Tower | Alanya Castle | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Seljuk dry dock at the water | 1226 tower on the harbour | Walls and inner citadel on the hill | | Highlight | Five arches over the sea | Museum and port view | Panorama over both beaches | | Where | ≈ 200 m south of the tower along the wall | End of the harbour promenade | Top of the peninsula | | Time needed | ≈ 30 min | ≈ 45 min | 2–3 h | | Steps | Some on the path | 85 inside | Many, but there is a cable car | The shipyard and the tower are one walk down by the sea — do them together. The castle is a separate half-day up top. Very short on time? See the shipyard and tower from a boat and give the day to the castle. > **Go early, wear real shoes** The sea-wall path is stone with steps in places, and the rock gets hot by midday in summer. Mornings are cooler and the arches are empty — easier for photos. Take water: the nearest cafés are on the harbour promenade. ## Alanya’s historic sights compared Every historic sight in Alanya rated by YesGo. - [Alanya Old Town (Tophane)](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-old-town) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free - [Alanya Shipyard](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Price being verified - [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Paid, price being verified - [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle) — YesGo score 35/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Walls free, İç Kale ≈ €12 - [Syedra](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/syedra) — YesGo score 22/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · €7 for foreigners, under-8s free ## Seljuk Alanya in a day: sea level to summit The Red Tower and the shipyard by the water in the morning, then up to the castle and the cable car down to the cave and the beach. YesGo fits in the time on site and the transfers. 1. [Red Tower](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-red-tower) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 45 min · Paid, price being verified 2. [Alanya Shipyard](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-shipyard) — YesGo score 39/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Price being verified 3. [Alanya Castle](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-castle) — YesGo score 35/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 2 h 30 min · Walls free, İç Kale ≈ €12 4. [Damlataş Cave](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/damlatas-cave) — YesGo score 38/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · ≈ 225 TL, children less 5. [Cleopatra Beach](https://yesgo.io/turkey/alanya/alanya-cleopatra-beach) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 3 h · Free entry, sunbeds extra ## Good to know This page is about the historic Seljuk shipyard by the Red Tower — not Alanya’s modern yacht and boat yards. “Tersane” simply means shipyard in Turkish, so on signs and maps look for Alanya Tersanesi. ## Tips - Do the shipyard with the Red Tower — it is a few minutes along the sea wall. - For the classic view of all five arches, take a boat trip from the harbour. - Morning is best: cool under the vaults, soft light, nobody in your photos. - The path is uneven stone — flip-flops are a bad idea. - Head up to Alanya Castle afterwards, before the heat — from the top you see the harbour and the docks below. ## Questions ### What is the Alanya Shipyard entrance fee? Sources disagree. Turkish Wikipedia and the Turkey Tour Organizer guide say entry is free; other guides describe a paid ticket. Neither the Ministry of Culture nor the municipality publishes a price. Bring a card and some cash and check on the day. ### Is there a combined ticket for the Red Tower and the shipyard? Some guides mention one, sometimes including Damlataş Cave as well, but we could not confirm it officially. Ask at the Red Tower ticket desk. ### What are Alanya Shipyard opening hours? The castle complex it belongs to is open daily 8:00–18:30 according to the Ministry of Culture. We could not confirm the shipyard’s own hours, so go in daytime. ### How do I get to the Alanya Shipyard? Walk the harbour promenade to the Red Tower, about 10 minutes from the centre, go round it and continue south along the sea wall for a few more minutes. Or see it from the water on a boat trip. ### Is the Alanya Shipyard worth visiting? Yes, if you are at the Red Tower anyway — it is a rare surviving medieval shipyard a few minutes away. Don’t make a special trip: the maritime display is small. ### How long do you need at the shipyard? About 30 minutes; with the Red Tower, around an hour and a half. ### Are the Red Tower and the shipyard the same place? No. They are two separate Seljuk buildings about 200 m apart, linked by a path along the sea wall; the tower guarded the shipyard. ### When was the Alanya Shipyard built? In the 1220s under Sultan Alaeddin Keykubad I — 1228 according to Turkish Wikipedia, 1227 according to the Polish article. It took about a year. ### What is inside the shipyard museum? Five vaulted bays with a maritime display: an old crane, a mast, shipbuilding tools, anchors and navigation instruments. By the entrance are a small mosque and an officials’ room, with the sultan’s emblem above the door. ### Can you see the shipyard from a boat? Yes — the shipyard can be reached by boat, and harbour boat trips pass by the five arches. ## How we checked The five bays are checked against three Wikipedias and Alanya Municipality’s Tersane page; the sultan who built it against the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s castle page, Turkish Wikipedia and the municipality; the mosque, emblem, inscription and the bay-by-bay display against the municipality and the Turkey Tour Organizer guide (the mosque and emblem also against Wikipedia). Sources differ on the start of construction (1228 or 1227), the sea front (56.5 or 57 m), the depth (44 or 40 m) and whether the room left of the entrance was a guardroom or an office, so we show both. The bay widths and the mosque frescoes come from the municipality alone, and we say so. Use until the 1960s is confirmed by both the Ministry and the municipality. We don’t call it the only surviving Seljuk shipyard: the Ministry says it is one of the few. On the fee: no official price from the Ministry or the municipality; Turkish Wikipedia and a 2021 guide say entry is free, other guides describe a paid and a combined ticket with amounts that don’t agree, so we quote none and mark it “verifying”. The hours are official but for the castle complex, so also “verifying”. Distance from the Red Tower: about 200 m as the crow flies (Wikimedia Commons). Bus numbers appeared in a single source only, so we leave them out. ## Sources - Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, museums portal: Alanya Kalesi — shipyard, Red Tower, castle hours, 30.10.2026 - Turkish Wikipedia: Alanya Tersanesi ve Tophane - Polish Wikipedia: Tersane - English Wikipedia: Alanya - Alanya Municipality (Alanya Belediyesi): Tersane and Tarihi Yerler, 30.10.2026 - Turkey Tour Organizer: Alanya Shipyard, 2021 - Unofficial travel guides on the fee and combined ticket — via web search, 30.10.2026 - Wikidata Q9357515; Wikimedia Commons category Alanya Tersane --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.