Hadrian Kapısı (Üçkapılar)

About Hadrian Kapısı (Üçkapılar)

Hadrian Gate, known in Turkish as Üçkapılar (the Three Gates), is a memorial gate in Antalya built in the name of the Roman emperor Hadrian, who visited the city in AD 130. It was later built into the walls that surround the city and harbour, and it is the only one of their entrance gates still standing today. The Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort rediscovered it in 1817 while commanding HMS Fridericksteen. The gate has two colonnaded facades and three entry arches rising above four pylons, with a tower on either side, and stands about 8 metres high. The southern tower, known as the Julia Sancta, dates from the Roman era but was probably built independently of the gate. The lower part of the northern tower is Roman, while its upper part was rebuilt in the first half of the 13th century under the Seljuk sultan Alaeddin Keykubat I and carries an inscription in Arabic script. Apart from its granite pillars, the gate is built entirely of white marble, and its upper part has three cupola-shaped openings. It is considered the most beautiful gate of ancient Pamphylia.