Wandering down a new to me road the other morning, I found a green space. I crossed the busy highway, and entered into a grassy area. Overcome with the loveliness of seeing fresh green grass, I wandered in a ways. What I had discovered was Ataturk Kultur Park an oasis in the middle of Antalya.
Getting There
Easy to find, this is a huge public park directly across the highway from the massive Corendon Airlines Park Stadium. Also within the park boundaries is the Exhibition and Convention Centre.
Paths
Absolutely littered with paths of various construction, you can wander to your hearts content. Close to where I entered the park was a wide paved path, lined along both sides with Hollywood type film signs. These depicted scenes and actors from as early as the 1960’s. I have no idea how this theme fits in with the park itself but there seemed to be quite a display of older film related statues etc.
Be careful, I was not expecting it, but many of the wider paved paths are open to vehicles. Not too many are driving around but they are definitely roaming through the park and it caught me out a few times. I mention this especially if you have little ones in tow.
Green Space
Wow, such beautiful and immense green lawn, thickly treed areas and manicured gardens. There wasn’t much as far as flowers go, but plenty of shrubbery, an orange grove, a pine forest and those beautiful lawns.
One tree especially stood out for me as I am familiar with this species from visiting Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. It is the thorny silk floss tree or Chorisia Speciosa.
Water Features
Walking through the park I found several large ponds. One was home to a flock of white geese and some ducks! I had so much fun chatting away with these lovely birds. They were exceptionally pretty swimming through the clear water in the morning sunlight.
Seating
All through the park are benches of various styles to sit and enjoy your time. There were even a few café’s and restaurants scattered throughout the space, perfect for an afternoon rest and cup of Turkish tea.
Exhibition & Convention Centre Grounds
A sizable section of the park, directly in front of the arena, is open and tiled with multiple buildings. This is the exhibition & convention portion of the park. An outdoor theatre is at the head of a long and very wide stretch of space with a water feature down the centre. Though this area looks less appealing and a little run down, it is a pleasant place to walk through and offers great views of the Taurus Mountain range.
I will definitely be returning to this large and spacious park on a regular basis. Feeling tired of the busy streets and cars, this is a perfect oasis of peace and quiet. There was hardly a sole in sight either, I could wander freely and enjoy my surroundings to the fullest.
