Köprülü Kanyon

Köprülü Canyon National Park was declared on 12 December 1973 in Antalya province, on the Mediterranean side of the Taurus, and protects some 366 km².

Its central feature is the canyon that the river Köprüçay, the ancient Eurymedon, has cut into the limestone over some fourteen kilometres, with walls exceeding four hundred metres. The river, cold and fast, is one of the busiest rafting destinations in Turkey, which generates intense seasonal pressure on its lower reach.

The park preserves the largest natural forest of Mediterranean cypress in the world, with large, old trees on the limestone slopes: the species is very widespread as a planted tree, but its wild populations are scarce and this is the most important. Its historic heritage completes the picture: the Roman bridge of Oluk Köprü, still in use, spans the canyon with a single arch, and on the heights survive the ruins of Selge, a Pisidian city with a theatre cut into the rock. The park lies within a territory where Yörük communities are present, transhumant herders of Turkmen tradition.