Travel writers of British The Guardian newspaper listed five Turkish beaches among the cleanest beaches in Europe.
Antalya’s Çıralı and Patara and three other beaches in Çanakkale, Muğla and Fethiye are included in the list.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan officially declared 2020 “The Year of Patara” at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) parliamentary group meeting on Feb. 12 in the capital Ankara. The declaration was welcomed happily in the Mediterranean resort city Antalya, where the ancient city is located.
Patara was one of Lycia’s major naval and trading ports, located at the mouth of the Xanthos River. Patara’s oracle at the renowned Temple of Apollo, which has not been discovered yet, was said to rival that of Delphi, and the temple equaled the reputation of the famous temple on the island of Delos. It was believed that Apollo lived on Delos during summer but spent the winters in Patara. The ancient city is also known as the birthplace of St. Nicholas, a.k.a. Santa Claus. St. Nicholas was a Christian bishop famed for helping the needy.
Turkey is preparing to launch an internationally recognized certification system for “coronavirus-free” touristic areas and facilities in order to help revive the industry, according to the tourism minister, who recently noted that domestic tourism could return to normal by late May.
Hosting the greatest number of hotels and 42% of the 1.2 million beds certified by the ministry across the country, the city attracts tourists from 193 countries.
While Antalya is one of the most important tourism destinations in the world with its beaches, bays, quality of service in its hotels, historical and cultural values, its inns are also a center of attraction.
