'At one time the world's finest and fastest ships were built in Antalya. The timber from which these ships were built was as legendary throughout the world as the skill of the shipbuilders. When the Suez Canal was under construction, timber cut from the forests of Antalya was sent to Egypt, where the canal consumed tens and hundreds of thousands of tons of timber from these forests. And when the railway was being constructed, tens of thousands more tons of wood from these emerald forests went to Africa to be sawn into sleepers. Syria used wood from here, and for centuries the Aegean islands depended upon it.' So wrote Atabeyoglu in 1972.

With its turquoise sea, fine golden sand and sunny skies, Antalya attracts holidaymakers from all over the world today, but throughout history it was best known for its forests.

Even today forests cover more than half of this beautiful province in southern Turkey, the most common tree being the Mediterranean pine (Pinus brutia). But the cedar is also abundant, with half of Turkey's remaining cedar (Cedrus libani) forests situated in this area. The celebrated ship presented to Cleopatra by the Roman general and statesman Mark Antony, and the fleet of ships commanded by the Ottoman admiral Barbaros Hayreddin Pasa were built of cedar wood.

In antiquity cedar was valued for its pleasing scent and beautiful color as well as its durability, and was therefore used for the construction of palaces and temples, and for the coffins of Egyptian pharaohs and high-ranking state officials.

Diverse fossils dating from the Palaeozoic and Mesozoic eras are to be found in the area, whose limestone bedrock and porous soil layer suggest that it was once covered by sea.

The vegetation varies according to the altitude. Junipers, which are found scattered amongst the cedars in the lower part of the forest, outnumber other species at heights over 2000 metres. Besides the bluish green cedars the forests here are home to prickly juniper, Grecian juniper, stinking juniper, oak, maple, ash and poplar, and to a rich diversity of wildlife, including rabbits, foxes, partridges, wild boar, eagles and buzzards. When spring comes the aspens, sweet williams, violets and deadnettles transform the forest into heaven on earth. One of the most ancient inhabitants of Çiglikara is a tree known as Baba Sedir whose age is estimated at around one thousand years.

Do not miss visiting this wild unspoilt spot in the heart of the Beydaglari Mountains next time you are in this part of the world. Baba Sedir and Koca Katran are expecting you.

* Nusret Nurdan Eren is a photographer and freelance writer