Hadrian's Gate - Three Arches

Hadrian's Gate, a magnificent structure

with three arches adhering to the castle walls, in the south of Atatürk Street in Antalya, is considered as the most beautiful gate of Pamphylia.  Those who encounter the magnificent structure of Hadrian's Gate, one of the many gates of the old city of Antalya within the city walls, should have guessed very well that the city they will see after passing through the walls was at least as beautiful, well-kept and rich as this magnificent and magnificent structure.  In the recent past, the increasing uncontrolled structuring in the city caused the existence of illegal, non-infrastructure structures in the settlements defined as the subculture people's region created and named as suburbs.  The Hadrian's Gate, which is close to this uncontrolled structuring area and has found a new name for itself as "Three Doors", has become one of the many doors opening to the suburbs of Antalya Castle.  Thus, Üç Kapıla, became a transition point that separates the inner part of the castle and the area outside the "castle" from each other, and on the other hand, it was the transition point of an organization that could not fit into the citadel on the one hand and was relocated outside the castle.

 

 The Hadrian's Gate in the east of the city is the largest of these and the best preserved structure that has survived until today and is a famous building over time.  As the people of Antalya frequently pass through these three arched places because the building consists of three arches and is on their route within the city, they will naturally call it "Three Doors", not the "Hadrian's Gate".

 In the restoration work carried out in the 1960s, the pyramid columns were removed. In the restoration work carried out in the 1960s, marble columns in Corinthian order were placed instead of the pyramid columns.

 Hardian Gate M.S.  It is a Hadrian period work built for Hadrian, one of the Roman Emperors who visited the city in 130.  The door has a Latin inscription.  Of the marble columns decorated in the Corinthian style and the statues of the emperor and his family on the door, only inscriptions have survived to this day.  In the 1960's, the historical gate was reconsidered.  Marble Corinthian columns and Corinthian capitals were placed instead of the pyramidal columns extending to the cornices on the side of the front three doors that appeared before 1960.

 These types of structures are called "Jewelry of Triumph" in their era.  The understanding of the building, which was built in the name of the commanders and emperors who gained victory in ancient Rome and which has one or three-eyed passages covered with vaulted arches, has spread over time and has emerged as a "triumphal arch" in many parts of the world.  It is not difficult to understand that many buildings such as the Istanbul University, Topkapı Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, and the famous "Triumphal Arch" in France, with examples from our own country, were built with inspiration from the Roman period architecture and decoration.

 

 In the introduction letter in front of the door;  “It is the only gate that has survived from the gates on the walls surrounding the old city of Antalya and its harbor.  Roman Emperor Hadrian's M.S.  It was made in memory of his visit to Antalya in 130.  With its three-eyed entrance rising on four legs and its double-faced architecture decorated with columns, it looks like a Roman Honor Arch.  There were probably statues of the emperor and their families on the Tak.  However, no of them have survived.  There are two high towers of different structures on both sides of the gate.  The one on the front left is original and belongs to the Roman period.  According to the inscription on the right, it was built by the Selcuk Sultan I. Alaaddin Keykubat.  The gate was restored in 1959. "  It is called.  As can be seen from the historical documents, the towers on both sides of the arch were not built at the same time.  The tower in the south is known as "Julia Sancta", a work of Hadrian.  The lower part of the northern one (right) belongs to antiquity, while the upper part belongs to the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keykubat period, M.S.  It was rebuilt in the first half of the 13th century, and it was noted that the tower was rebuilt by Alaaddin with the old Ottoman language.  The understanding of Seljuk Sultan, who gave importance to architecture and then shaped the social life by giving life to Anatolia with caravansaries, bridges, inns and baths, valuing a Roman period artifact and protecting and rebuilding the ruins of a destroyed tower.  It is admirable.  This historical event is an important result for us and their understanding of the history of the future and especially the Seljuk Sultans.  For this reason, I cannot go without saying that there is a huge gap between the Seljuks and the Ottomans in terms of architecture, understanding and history, and unfortunately, the Ottoman understanding, which does not care about the history as much as the Seljuks, unfortunately left a very effective perspective and attitude on today's perception.

 The three arches of Hadrian's Gate, a typical Roman triumphal arch, are the same size - 4.15 meters wide and 6.18 meters high, measuring to the top of the arc.  The entire structure has a height of more than 8 meters from the ancient pavement to the top of the entablature.

 Both the front and back of the door are decorated by facades of four columns each.  The monument is made of white marble, with the exception of the granite column shafts.  The capitals of the pillars are in composite order, that is, they connect the folds of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order.

 

 The colonial tops on either side of the gate are 1.28 meters high and consist of an architrave, a low frieze decorated with floral motifs and a cornice.  The rich decoration of the cornice represents the heads of lions, among others.  The barrel vaults on the arches are decorated with floral motifs and rosettes, each with a different decoration.  It is claimed that these reliefs on the ceilings of the Victory Arch are decorated with reliefs of flowers and fruit flowers grown in Antalya.  There are 66 cassettes in each belt;  The reliefs of 198 separate flowers and fruit flowers grown in Antalya are depicted on marble stone.  Although the missing parts were completed during the restoration made to restore the first appearance of the gate, which was destroyed in time, in 1961-1962, flower motifs were left unprocessed in these parts.

 Evliya Çelebi's Travel Book says the following about the gates of Antalya Castle.  "Sentence people need this door.  The other three gates operate on the port side.  From the big port gate, you can go down to the harbor with forty stone steps.  It is a south facing door.  The Plain Gate of the harbor faces east.  They depicted a Frankish dervish (belonging to foreigners) on the white marble of this door.  Three lines are written in Greek at the head of this description.  … Customs Gate is close to this.  It is a very small door.  And it looks south.  And the Customs office is inside this door.  And the four gates are provincial fortress gates, which are big gates.  Apart from these four gates, there are 22 more small gates in the neighborhoods separated by the city walls. "

 Hadrian's Gate was discovered for the Western world in 1817 by Francis Beaufort, who published a diary of his trip along the southern coast of Asia Minor.  Beaufort's white paper contains information about a higher door level.  However, in the 19th century, other European visitors to Antalya must have been destroyed, as Charles Texier (in the 30s of the 19th century) and Lanckoronski could no longer explain their exact appearance.

 The preservation of Hadrian's Gate at the end of the century described the Polish explorer Karol Lanckoronski with the following words: Today, as its interior envelops it, it was buried only a few meters deep and could be seen from the outside.  Thanks to the special conditions of the monument, it has been relatively well preserved, that is, a wall covering its exterior has been blocked for a long time and the gap between it was made until a few years ago.  We owe the same researcher and a German and Austrian architect and archaeologist George Niemann with a precise explanation of the entire visible structure, accurate drawings and plans.

 Unbelievable though, the complete renovation of Hadrian's Gate took place in the 50s of the 20th century, 60 years after Lanckoronski's visit.  The fact that he is still visiting Antalya and being one of the places where almost every tourist wants to take a souvenir photo is an award that can be given to him in the face of how hard this historical place has come so far.

 Over time, the city walls closed the outside of the door and the door was not used for many years throughout history.  Probably the fortification surrounding the city passed in front of the Three Gates, and at one end of the old city, which we call Kaleiçi today, perhaps not going outside, even if one does, it guided a passage that opens out of the castle without the size of "three" arches.

 Perhaps this is one reason why the work has survived until today without being destroyed.  The gate was unearthed after the ruins of the city wall were demolished.  There are three dome-shaped openings on the upper part.  It is made entirely of white marble except for the columns.  Carved and relief decorations bear all the characteristics of the period.  There is information that the origin of the door is twofold.  Alıntı & Kaynak & Fotoğraflar

• Akurgal, Ekrem, Eski Medeniyetler ve Türkiye Kalıntıları, İstanbul 2011.
• Beaufort, Francis, Karamanya, Ya da, Asya-Küçük Güney Sahillerinin ve Antik Kalıntıların Kısa Açıklaması, Londra, 1817
• Lanckoroński, Karol, Pamphylia ve Pisidia şehirleri. Pamphylia, Viyana, 1890