Through the excavations carried out in the Antalya district in the last quarter of the previous Century, a stunning discovery of the prehistoric ages of Paleolithic, Neolithic and Mezolithic has proved the miracle of an early civilization ruled in the caves of Karain and Beldibi.

Following the Hittite dissolution some Akkadians migrated to this area after the great Trojan War according to the historical records. Beginning from the 8th Century B.C. the age of colonizing started. Side and Phaselis were the first two colonial cities built in Pamphylia. Herodot, the historian, reports that Pamphylia was conquered by the King of Lydia, Croesus. Then it was in the hand of the Persians in the 6th Century B.C. Later on, Alexander the Great captured this area in the year 334 B.C. but Perge, Aspendos and Side were not destroyed or plundered by him. After the death of Alexander the Great the City was under the rule of Ptolemaios from Egypt, and further it was a dependency of Pergamum by the decree of the Roman Senate in the 2nd Century B.C. Soon after this the King of Pergamum Attalos II had the City of Antalya constructed and the City was called as Attalos after him, later on it turned to be named as Attaleia and in the end as Antalya. Hidirlik-Tower in the City-Park, the fortresses of the eastern gate and Hadrianus Gate, which all were erected in that era, still stand there. Pamphylia was bound to Cilicia in the First Century B.C. It was mastered by the roman Empire in the 2nd Century A.D.. Christianity started to be diffused in this district in the 4th Century A.D. It was under the rule of Byzantium in the 7th Century A.D. Soon after this it was pillaged by the Arabians, then plundered by the Rodhorian, the Venetian and the Genevese pirates, and the Crusaders followed them successively. The Sultan of the Seljuk Turks Giyasettin Keyhusrev I got Pamphylia under the rule of the Seljuks at the beginning of the 13th Century A.D. Soon after this Antalya lived its jubilant days and expanded in this period and also became a city for winter-hibernation of the Sultans.

Somewhat later it was a possession of Hamitogullari and Tekeliogullari Dynasties. Then it was overrun by the Ottoman Empire in 1391.