MERSIN, TURKEY

Mersin (officially named İÇEL), an ancient city dating back to the Hittite era, is now a thoroughly modern port (don’t miss the reception by the Chamber of Shipping), gateway to the Cilician Plains and starting point for viewing the geologic wonders, cave dwellings and monasteries of Cappadocia. It is now a city of over 700,000 and the third largest seaport in Turkey.

A few kilometres up the road from Mersin is Tarsus, the home of Saul, the New Testament Apostle St. Paul. Also in Tarsus is the Cleopatra Gate, one of the city’s six gates. It was in Tarsus that Cleopatra met Marc Anthony in 41 BC to discuss their strategy for the East. She was able to sail right up to Tarsus as there was a large lake between it and the sea that has since silted up.

The all day tour in Mersin will visit Tarsus and the Tarsus Waterfall in the morning. Lunch is in a delightful setting looking at the ‘Maiden’s Castle and Korkyos Castle at Kizkalesi which boasts one of the finest beaches in Turkey. These castles were linked by a causeway in ancient times. Around Korkyos, the ancient ruins are strewn around these fortresses allowing us to see the agora, theatre, graveyard, and Roman Road remains. East of Kiskalesi is ‘littered’ with ruins which are being excavated.

In the afternoon we will arrive at Narlikuyu where there are two large abysses hidden in the bottom of a valley, Cennet and Cehennem (Heaven and Hell). At the bottom of the abyss, called Cennet (Heaven) which is 250 meters long, is a passageway going deeper to the stream. The ancients believed this was the River Styx, the river surrounding Hades, across which lost souls were ferried by Charon. The other abyss, Cehennem (Hell), a 120 metre deep pit, was believed to be the den of Typhon, a winged dragon with several heads, who attempted to murder Zeus. There is a 5th C. AD chapel at the base of Cennet (if you want to walk down the 452 steps), but a more accessible Narlikuyu Mosaic Museum on the surface. Since this is believed to be a mystical place where people come in search of cures, you will notice strips of cloth and paper tied to twigs and branches to remind the spirits that a supplicant has asked for help.

Next stop will be ruins of Elaeussa-Sebasten (Ayas), a Roman city dating at least to the early Roman period.
We will then travel to Kanytelis, view the Hellenistic Tower, four Byzantine basilicas, and the necropolises (cities of the dead). This city survived through Greek, Roman and Byzantine periods. Next, the ruins of Pompeipolis (the ancient city of Soli, rebuilt by Pompey in the 1st century BC, and named in honour of him) before returning to Mersin.

This section of Cilicia (a fertile plain, since the 1840’s producing cotton, a major export crop for Turkey) was more populous in antiquity than it is now. Ruins of the many ancient towns can be seen as we travel along the highway.

Our hosts in Mersin, the Chamber of Shipping and the Mersin Metropolitan Municipality honor us with their extreme care, wonderful reception and formal Rally dinner.