Silifke
| Silifke | ||||
|
||||
| Basic data | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Province (il) : | Mersin | |||
| Coordinates : | 36 ° 23 ' N , 33 ° 56' E | |||
| Residents : | 116,180 (2014) | |||
| Telephone code : | (+90) 324 | |||
| Postal code : | 33 xxx | |||
| License plate : | 33 | |||
| Structure and administration (as of 2015) | ||||
| Mayor : | Mustafa Turgut ( CHP ) | |||
| Website: | ||||
| District of Silifke | ||||
| Residents : | 116,180 (2014) | |||
| Surface: | 2,572 km² | |||
| Population density : | 45 inhabitants per km² | |||
| Kaymakam : | Şevket Cinbir | |||
| Website (Kaymakam): | ||||
Silifke is a city and a district in the province of Mersin in southern Turkey , on the banks of the Göksu at the foot of the Taurus Mountains . Since a regional reform in 2014, the city is identical in area and population to the district.
history
In ancient times the city was called Seleukia ( gr. Σελεύκεια) on the Kalykadnos (today Göksu ). It was made at the beginning of the 3rd century BC. Founded by Seleukos I Nikator and (like a number of other Seleucid city foundations) named after the ruler. The inhabitants of Holmi were resettled here (Stephanos of Byzantium; Strabon 14, 670). According to Stephanos of Byzantium , the old name of Seleukeia was Huria. William Foxwell Albright wants to equate Silifke with the Luwian Ura , in which André Lemaire and Hélène Lozachmeur followed him.
Under the Romans, Seleucia ( Latin: Seleucia ad Calycadnum ) became the capital of Isauria . Under the name Seleucia in Isauria it is still a titular archbishopric of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the Middle Ages the city was temporarily the capital of the Kingdom of Lesser Armenia .
Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa drowned in 1190 on the Third Crusade near the city in Göksu , which was then called Saleph.
Attractions
In the place of the ancient acropolis stands the Byzantine citadel of Silifke , which offers a good view over the city and the valley of Göksu. On the way there is a twelve-meter-deep cistern accessible via a spiral staircase . A Roman temple is located on İnönü Caddesi , which was dedicated to either Zeus , Apollon or Aphrodite . Two kilometers to the west is the early Christian pilgrimage site of St. Thekla ( Ayathekla ) . From Silifke to the north, a country road leads to Demircili , which in antiquity was a resort for the wealthy citizens of Seleukeia under the name Imbriogon . From there, the path continues via İmamlı to Uzuncaburç , the ancient Olba , of which a number of remarkable buildings have been preserved. The westward D-400 coastal road leads to other ruins of ancient sites and the Liman Kalesi and Tokmar Kalesi castles .
Near Atakent , the ancient Korasion , 10 km east, are the leading north toward Uzuncaburç streets the ruins of Karakabaklı , Işıkkale , Aşağı Dünya , Sinekkale , Türkmenuşağı , Pasli , Tekkadın , Barakçıkale , Karaböcülü , the Roman - Early Byzantine Villa rustica Gökkale and the tomb Mezgit Kalesi . In the village of Narlıkuyu, 25 km to the east, the mosaic of the three graces can be viewed , and nearby are the Koryk grottoes , two large collapsed dolines, Mancınıkkale castle , Hasanaliler church and the Roman manor Keşli . Another 10 km further are the ancient cities of Korykos with the girl's castle and the country castle , Elaiussa Sebaste and Kanytelleis, and near Kızkalesi the ancient places Cambazlı , Öküzlü , Çatıören , Emirzeli and the Roman rock tombs called Adamkayalar . The ancient Meydancıkkale fortress is located 40 km to the west near Gülnar . Parts of the coin find there are exhibited in the Silifke Archaeological Museum . On the road leading to Mut in the northwest, near the village of Keben, lies the Hittite rock relief of Keben in a steep rock face .
In the south of Silifke lies the alluvial land of the Göksu Delta with Lake Akgöl, which covers over 150 square kilometers. The area is home to numerous species of birds, and strawberries are grown on a large scale.
Personalities
- Birol Ünel (* 1961), actor
Town twinning
literature
- Theodora Stillwell MacKay: Seleucia ad Calycadnum (Silifke) Rough Cilicia, Turkey . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Turkish Institute for Statistics ( Memento from December 6, 2015 on WebCite ), accessed December 6, 2015
- ^ Richard H. Beal, The Location of Cilician Ura. In: Anatolian Studies 42, 1992, 66
- ↑ American Journal of Archeology 65, 1961, p. 400; BASOR 163, 1961, p. 44 note 42.
