Via Tauri - Sağlıklı - 2 May 2022

    Via Tauri was a stone road built in the 1st century AD by the Romans. The exact course of the road is not certain. It is known the tract led from the Capaddocian city of Tyana, across the Taurus Mountains, to Tarsos in Cilicia. The other cities connected to Via Tauri were Faustinopolis and Podondos. There is an ongoing discussion as to the location of the former polis. Some scholars place it by the modern village of Başmakçi, other in the vicinity of another rural settlement called Porsuk (Turchetto 2012). Depending on the location of the city, Via Tauri was running either a bit more or a bit less to the west in its Cappadocian part. Today, the Roman tract is almost completely covered by modern ways as the topography of the region leaves now and then builders with the same limited options.

Via Tauri at Sağlıklı *

Cennet-Cehennem (Heaven and Hell) - 29 July 2021

    Cennet (Heaven) and Cehennem (Hell) are two limestone sinkholes located 1 km south of Narlıkuyu in Mersin Province. Hell is the smaller of the caverns with walls steep enough to prevent any access. Heaven, measuring 110 x 250 m and 70 m deep, offers a convenient descent that have been used by men since antiquity. At the southern end of Cennet there is an extensive cave at the mouth of which a church dedicated to Virgin Mary was built in the 5th century. This geological feature inspired the first known name for the whole cavern - Corycian Cave. It was an ideal habitat for crocuses, and the obtained saffron was exported from nearby Korykos (Corycus) (Hill 1996). The site is mentioned in the Greek myths as the place where the monstrous serpent Typhon was nurtured. On the edge of Heaven sits an over-ground Roman temple converted to a church.

Church of Virgin Mary at Cennet-Cehennem*

Meryemlık (Sanctuary of Saint Thecla) - 22 July 2021

    Thecla was born in Ikonion (Konya) in the 1st century AD. She was a follower of Paul the Apostle, known as Saint Paul, and became a saint herself. She lived in the times difficult for Christians as the Roman Empire did not want the religion to spread. It forced Thecla to spend the last years of her life hiding in a cave near Seleukia (Silifke). Years after her death, in AD 313, the Edict of Milano imposed tolerance for Christianity within the empire. The new circumstances favoured the idea of turning the cave into a subterranean church what happened in the 4th century. Around the same time another church was built above the cave and the sanctuary became a popular pilgrimage destination (Hill 1996). This over-ground church was replaced by an impressive basilica erected in the second half of the 5th century.

Saint Thecla Cave Church *

Alahan Monastery - 22 July 2021

    Alahan is a complex of sacral buildings erected in the 5th century AD. The ancient name of the site could be Apadnas. It is located in the Göksu (ancient Kalykadnos) Valley in Mersin Province (then Isauria). The complex is believed to be planned as a pilgrimage centre and only later became a monastery (Hill 1996). It was built during the reign of Emperor Leo I, and later Emperor Zeno, in the time when the Isaurians rose to prominence in the court of Constantinople. A closer archeological survey by Gough in 1950s led to a conclusion the site was never finished.

Alahan - West Church *

Mopsuestia / Misis - 27 March 2021

    Almost everything worth seeing at Misis is clustered around the 4th century AD Roman bridge on the Pyramos river (Ceyhan). Only the Roman windmill (G) is a bit further down the watercourse, but still within walking distance. Nothing was easily accessible on the day of my visit, and I was taking pictures from behind fences. Among notable structures unearthed at Misis to date is a neo-Hittite citadel from the 8th century BC located at the excavation mound (F). It means an ancient city already prospered here in the first centuries of the 1st  millennium BC. Its Hittite name could be Pahri as suggested by Prof. Helmuth Bossert in 1950s (misis.isma.cnr.it).

Mopsuestia / Misis (A) *

Tarsus - Donuktaş Roman Temple - 13 March 2021

    I spotted a small brown plaque while driving through Tarsus. The name on it, 'Donuktaş Roman Temple', was completely strange to me what sparked my interest. When I arrived there I saw a massive foundation of a former temple dedicated to Emperor Hadrian. The 2nd century AD structure, erected on the plan of rectangle, was 133,5 m long, 60,5 m wide and over 30 m high. The dimensions place it among the largest temples of the Ancient World (Tarsus Museum). 

Donuktaş Roman Temple *

Kastabala / Kesmeburun - 19 November 2020

    It is not clear when the city was founded. Its Luwian name points to the Hittite period (c. 1700-1200 BC). The first written reference to Kastabala comes from an inscription in Aramaic (5-4th c. BC) and mentions 'Kastabalay'. In the Hellenistic time, the city became Hierapolis (2nd c. BC) only to regain its original name under Roman rule. The Romans brought peace and prosperity to Cilicia, and left many traces of their architectural genius behind. Also in Kastabala.

Kastabala *

Elaiussa-Sebaste / Ayaş - 13 September 2020

   The ancient city of  Elaiussa was established by the Greeks in the 2nd century BC, but almost nothing has left from that time. It became Sebaste (Greek equivalent of Augusta) in 12 BC thanks to a Cappadocian client king, Archelaos, who ruled the city, and who wanted to honour Emperor Augustus (Sayar 2010). Elaiussa Sebaste thrived in the 1st century AD and was inhabited through the Roman and into the Byzantine periods. However, when the nearby city of Korykos flourished in the 500s, the settlement lost its importance, which led to its abandonment in time.

Elaiussa-Sebaste - aqueduct arch *

Olba - 7 September 2020

    Olba is a Hellenistic settlement with the Roman continuation (Durugönül 2001) situated approx. 85 km west of Mersin. It sits on a hill at the northern end of the Şeytan Deresi (Devil's Valley). The valley extends south for 25 km, finally reaching Korykos / Kızkalesi by the Mediterranean Sea. Initially, the site housed a garrison which controlled the valley traffic, but later the population of Olba became more diverse. Some time after 250 BC, 4 km west of their dwellings, the Olbians erected a temple dedicated to Zeus. In the Roman period, a new city was built around the shrine - Diokaisareia.

Nymphaion at Olba
 (immediately east of A) *

Uzuncaburç, Roman Road - 7 September 2020

    The road came as a great surprise to me. Prior to my arrival in Diocaeserea I knew nothing about its existence. I walked a few hundred meters on the solid stone surface. I didn't go to the beginning of the road, but I marched alongside the necropolis of Olba, finally reaching the small theatre you can see below. I have nothing but the admiration for the Roman builders.

Roman Road at Uzuncaburç *

Diokaisareia (Diocaesarea) / Uzuncaburç - 7 September 2020

    Diokaisareia is an ancient city located 90 km west of Mersin and 30 km north of Silifke. The city grew around the temple of Zeus Olbios erected in the Hellenistic period by the inhabitants of nearby Olba. According to Prof. Durugönül of Mersin University the temple was built 'not before 250 BC' (2001). In the early Roman period in Cilicia, Diokaisareia was declared a free city by Emperor Tiberius who ruled between AD 14 and 37. The decline of the city began in the 5th century AD.

Propylaia of Diokaisareia (A) *

Adamkayalar (Men of Rock) - 31 August 2020

    Men of Rock are Roman tomb reliefs dated back to the 2nd century AD. They are located in the valley locally known as Şeytan Deresi some 5 km northwest of Korykos (Kızkalesi). It's a place of great natural beauty and the atmosphere of mystery. If physically you are in a good shape you must see it. The path goes steeply down, and you need to measure every step you take what only adds to the Indiana Jones like experience! 

Roman tomb reliefs (A)*

Anazarbos (Anavarza) / Dilekkaya - Lower City - 12 July 2020 & 19 January 2021

    Anazarbos was an ancient city in Cilicia located on and alongside an isolated range of hills, ca. 220 m high. It is not clear who and when founded the city. It is speculated that the Upper City was first inhabited by the Assyrians, and the Greeks gave a start to the Lower City. Local scholars claim that currently used name 'Anavarza' has its origin in the Persian word 'nezarba' meaning 'invincible'. The Persians had been present in Cilicia for some 200 years before the arrival of Alexander the Great in 333 BC. The city rose to prominence under the rule of Rome when it became the 2nd most important centre in the region after Tarsos.

Anazarbos *