It is uncertain when the site of the current city was first inhabited. Attalos II, king of Pergamon, was believed to have founded the city around 150 BC, naming it Attaliaand selecting it as a naval base for his powerful fleet. However, excavations in 2008 in the DoğuGarajı district have uncovered remains dating to the 3rd century BC, suggesting that the city was founded earlier than previously supposed. Antalya became part of the Roman Republic in 133 BC when King Attalos III of Pergamon willed his kingdom to Rome at his death. The city grew and prospered during the Ancient Roman period.
Christianity started to spread in the region after 2nd century. Antalya was visited by Paul of Tarsus, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles: "FromPerga, Paul and Barnabas went down to Attalia and sailed from there to Antioch after preaching inPisidia and Pamphylia" (Acts 14:25-26).
Antalya was a major city in the Byzantine Empire. It was the capital of the Byzantine Theme of Carabisiani (Θέμα Kαραβησιάνων, ThemaKaravēsianōn), which occupied the southern coasts of Anatolia and theAegean Islands. At the time of the accession of John II Comnenus in 1118 it was an isolated outpost surrounded by Turkish beyliks, accessible only by sea.
The city and the surrounding region were conquered by the Seljuk Turks in the early 13th century. Antalya was the capital of the Turkish beylik of Teke (1321–1423) until its conquest by the Ottomans. The Arabic travelerIbn Battuta, who visited the city in 1335-1340, noted:
From Alanya I went to Antaliya [Adalia], a most beautiful city. It covers an immense area, and though of vast bulk is one of the most attractive towns to be seen anywhere, besides being exceedingly populous and well laid out. Each section of the inhabitants lives in a separate quarter. The Christian merchants live in a quarter of the town known as the Mina [the Port], and are surrounded by a wall, the gates of which are shut upon them
