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Attalia (modern Antalya, Turkey) is mentioned near the close of Paul's First Missionary Journey (Acts 14:25-26), but Paul undoubtedly passed through there on his way to Perga earlier in the same journey. The ancient city was thought to have been founded around 150 BCE by Attalus II, king of Pergamum, who named it after himself. Recent excavations, however, have uncovered evidence of occupation at least a century earlier.

Attalia lies buried beneath Antalya, Turkey, a modern city with a population in the metropolitan area of more than a million in the winter and perhaps double that size in the summer. Remnants of the ancient city include the city walls, Hadrian's Gate, the so-called "truncated minaret" (originally a tower of a second-century Roman temple), and the Hirdilik Tower (a Roman fortification that may have doubled in ancient times as a lighthouse). Most of these have later additions from Seljuk times. (For more on each of these, see close-up page.) Most of the archaeology that takes place in the city is of the type described below by Metin Pevlivaner: investigations before construction permits are granted within the old city.

Antalya boasts a world-class archaeological museum that houses finds from the many archaeological sites in Antalya Province, including Perge (biblical Perga), Side, Aspendos, Olimpos, Demre (biblical Myra) and Alanya.