Köprülü Canyon, Antalya: Facts, History and Nature

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Köprülü Canyon at a Glance

Köprülü Canyon (Köprülü Kanyon) is a river gorge in the Taurus Mountains, north of Manavgat in Antalya province. The Köprüçay River, called the Eurymedon in ancient times, has cut a canyon about 14 km long between the villages of Bolasan and Beşkonak. Around the canyon lies Köprülü Canyon National Park, one of the most visited natural areas on the Antalya coast, known for its clear water, Roman bridges, cypress forests and the ancient city of Selge.

• Protected since: 12 December 1973, as a national park.
• Area: about 36,600 hectares (around 366 km²).
• Districts: Manavgat and Serik in Antalya, and Sütçüler in Isparta, according to scientific studies of the park.
• Altitude: from about 150 m near Beşkonak to about 2,500 m at Bozburun peak.
• River: the Köprüçay, which rises in the mountains of Isparta and reaches the Mediterranean east of Serik.
• Distance: about 86 km by road from Antalya to Beşkonak, roughly an hour and a half.

Where the Name Comes From

"Köprü" means bridge in Turkish, and "Köprülü" means "with a bridge". The name refers to the Roman bridges that still cross the gorge, above all the Oluk Bridge, a single stone arch built in the 2nd century AD and still in use today.

A Short History

In antiquity the canyon lay on the road between the mountain city of Selge and the plain of Pamphylia on the coast. The Oluk and Büğrüm bridges carried that road over the river and a side stream. Selge itself, high above the canyon near today's village of Altınkaya, still has a theatre, an agora, temples and a stadium. Further downstream the same river saw the Battle of the Eurymedon in the 5th century BC. In modern times, rafting began at Beşkonak in the mid-1990s and turned the villages along the river into a centre for outdoor tourism.

Nature

The canyon walls are mainly conglomerate, a rock made of pebbles cemented together, and cold karst springs feed the river along the way. The park protects a natural forest of Mediterranean cypress of about 400 hectares, many plants found only in Türkiye, and animals such as wild goats.

Explore Köprülü Canyon

• Places to visit in the national park
• Tours and activities in Köprülü Canyon
• How the canyon was formed
• Weather month by month
• Map of Köprülü Canyon with distances

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