My Cilician Trips: Tarsus

Tarsus - the capital city of Cilicia

Old town *

Tarsus Museum (13 March 2021)

The New Tarsus Museum was opened in December 2021. It is located in a restored building in the proximity of St. Paul's Well, just next to the Roman road. The museum takes visitors on a journey through centuries demonstrating the former importance of the city in the region. A collection of small thematic chambers points out to various periods in Tarsus' rich history and gives detailed information on many topics.

A very positive venue that I will come back to in the future. I didn't pay any entrance fee.

Entrance from Atatürk Bulvarı *

Spacious hall *

Chamber A *

Tarsus - Roman Road (13 March 2021)

It was inaccessible on the day of my visit, but I took 3 pictures from behind the fence.

The road was built some time in the 1st century AD and served for many centuries as archaeological finds demonstrate. It is 6,5 m wide and, interestingly, has a sewage system underneath what distinguish the road from other Roman making of that kind in Anatolia.

Basalt tiles on top *

Looking from entrance *

Information board *

Tarsus - House of Culture (13 March 2021)

Located in an old Islamic school (madrasa), the House of Culture takes visitors back to the 19th and early 20th century showcasing ordinary people's life in Tarsus and its surroundings.

Madrasa built in 1550s by Kubat Pasha *

Interior *

Then teacher's, now thematic room *

19th century home stuff *

Tarsus - Mausoleum of Daniel (20 October 2019)

We visited the relatives of my wife who live in Tarsus. After a 'meaty' time in a restaurant we had a long stroll, and I could see the mosque of which I had no idea it existed.

Daniel is a biblical figure who lived in Jerusalem in the 6th century BC. In the Islamic world he is considered an unofficial prophet and enjoys deep respect. Nevertheless, modern scholars almost unanimously question Daniel's existence.

There are six cities in the Near East which claim to house the prophet's tomb (source: Wikipedia). Tarsus is the seventh one, indicating the Makam Mosque's underground as his resting place. The story is told on the information boards at the site.