Gündoğmuş is a town and remote district of Antalya Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey, 182 km from the city of Antalya, off the road from Akseki to Manavgat. The town was previously a village named Eksere in the district of Akseki and was renamed Gündoğmuş in 1936.

Gündoğmuş District

On the eastern part of the Gulf of Antalya, lies in the Taurus Mountains and on the same latitude as Akseki and İbradı.  The large part of Gündoğmuş was located in the region of Isauria in ancient times. Alanya was a centre of piracy and the immense wealth gained from the loot was also transferred to the interior regions of Anatolia through idle roads. The numerous castles and remnants of a small town on these roads seem to validate this assumption.

While İbradı has a bureaucratic and Akseki a commercial identity, it has an identity based on agriculture and animal husbandry. Sources referred to Gündoğmuş as one of the highest lying places not only of Antalya, but of all Anatolia. These mountains serve as grazing highlands for the villages in Alanya and Manavgat districts during the migration season. The migration of the villagers, who graze their herds around the mountain lakes that were covered under snow throughout the winter, begins in May.

One of the places of Pamphylia that is waiting to be discovered is the majestic valley of the Alara River admired by many and which rises from the Gündoğmuş Mountains.

Gündoğmus lies outside the main trade routes and the road connecting the coast to Gündoğmuş end here. This is the main reason why the district has remained relatively isolated, but has managed to preserve its traditional lifestyle. Though the least known region of Antalya, it is very rich in butlarch, oak and cedar trees. A large part of this district is covered by forests consisting of these tree species. Gündoğmuş, with its great variety of endemic plants, imposing mountains, dramatic Alara Valley and unspoilt culture is ready to welcome you.