The Kizil Kule (Red Tower)

The octagonal shaped building that's the symbol of the city is a work by Selcuks of the 13th century. It was built in 1226 by Ebu Ali Reh el Kettani, a master builder from Aleppo and had built the citadel of Sinop before on the demand of Alaaddin Keykubat, the Sultan of Selcuks. It was made of red bricks, the upper parts of which had been fired, since stone blocks were difficult to lift at a certain height, thus it was given the name of Kizilkule (Red Tower). Marble blocks of the antiquity are seen in the walls of the citadel. The height of the tower that is octagonal in shape is 33 meters and it is 29 meters in diameter, its each wall is 12.5 metres long. There are five floors, including the ground floor. You can go to the top of the tower with the help of stone stairs that are high-spaced and have 85 steps. Sunlight coming from the top of the tower even reaches the first floor. There is a cistern in the middle of the tower. The tower was built in order to protect the harbour and the dockyard from naval attacks and was used for military purposes for centuries. ( www.alanya.com.tr/en/47-Historical-Places.html )