Silifke

Silifke
Silifke
	— Town —
	Location of Silifke within Turkey.
	Coordinates: 36°22′N 33°56′E / 36.367°N 33.933°ECoordinates: 36°22′N 33°56′E / 36.367°N 33.933°E
Country	Türkiye
Region	Mediterranean
Province	Mersin
	Government
- Mayor	Bayram Ali Öngel (MHP)
	Population
- Urban	51 684
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
- Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	33xxx
Area code(s)	+90 324
Licence plate	33
Website	www.silifke.gov.tr

Silifke (Selefke; Greek: Σελεύκεια, Seleucia or Seleukeia) is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, Şablon:Convert/LoffAonDbSoff west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of Çukurova.

Silifke is near the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of the Göksu River, which flows from the nearby Taurus Mountains, surrounded by attractive countryside along the river banks.

Etymology[]

Silifke was formerly called Seleucia on the Calycadnus (Şablon:Lang-la) — variously cited over the centuries as Seleucia [in] Cilicia, Seleucia [in,of] Isauria, Seleucia Trachea, and Seleucia Tracheotis —. The ancient city of Olba or Olbasa, Olbia, Ourbanopolis was also within the boundaries of modern day Silifke.

Economy[]

The economy of the district depends on agriculture, tourism and raising livestock. The town of Silifke is as a market for the coastal plain, which produces beans, peanuts, sesame, banana, orange, lemon, cotton, grapes, lentils, olives, tobacco, and canned fruits and vegetables. An irrigation project located at Silifke supplies the fertile Göksu delta. In recent years there has been a large investment in glasshouses for producing strawberries and other fruit and vegetables in the winter season.

Silifke is also an industrial town, well-connected with other urban areas and producing beverages, chemicals, clothes, footwear, glass, plastics, pottery, and textiles.

Climate[]

Silifke has long, roasting, sunny summer times and short warm winters still sunny.

Şablon:Weather box

History[]

Antiquity[]

Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus (Greek: Kalykadnos, currently Göksu) River, Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns called Olbia (or Olba) and Hyria and that Seleucus I merely united them giving them his name. The city grew to include the nearby settlement of Holmi (in modern day Taşucu) which had been established earlier as an Ionian colony but being on the coast was vulnerable to raiders and pirates.^[1]. The new city up river was doubtless seen as safer against attacks from the sea so Seleucia achieved considerable commercial prosperity as a port for this corner of Cilicia (later named Isauria), and was even a rival of Tarsus.

Cilicia thrived as a province of the Romans, and Seluecia became a religious center with a renowned 2nd century Temple of Jupiter. It was also the site of a noted school of philosophy and literature, the birthplace of peripatetics Athenaeus and Xenarchus.^[2] The stone bridge was built by the governor L.Octavius Memor in 77 AD. Around 300 AD Isauria was established as an independent state with Seleucia as the capital.

Christianity[]

Early Christian bishops held a Council of Seleucia in ^[3] 325, 359, and 410. Seleucia was famous for the tomb of the virgin Saint Thecla of Iconium, converted by Saint Paul, who died at Seleucia,^[4], the tomb was one of the most celebrated in the Christian world and was restored several times, among others by the Emperor Zeno in the 5th century, and today the ruins of the tomb and sanctuary are called Meriamlik ^[5]. In the 5th century the imperial governor (comes Isauriae) in residence at Seleucia had two legions at his disposal, the Legio II Isaura and the Legio III Isaura. From this period, and perhaps later, dates the Christian necropolis, west of the town, which contains many tombs of Christian soldiers. According to the Notitia Episcopatuum of Antioch, in the 6th century, the Metropolitan of Seleucia had twenty-four suffragan sees ^[6].

In 705 Seleucia was captured by the Arab armies of Islam and was recovered by the Byzantines. Thus by 732 nearly all the ecclesiastical province of Isauria was incorporated into the Patriarchate of Constantinople; henceforth the province figures in the Notitiae of Byzantium, but under the name of Pamphylia.

In the Notitiae of Leo VI the Wise (ca. 900) Seleucia had 22 suffragan bishoprics ^[7]; in that of Constantine Porphyrogenitus (ca 940) it had 23 ^[8]. In 968 Antioch again fell into the power of the Byzantines, and with the Province of Isauria, Seleucia was allocated to the Patriarchate of Antioch ^[9]. We know of several metropolitans of this see, the first of whom, Agapetus, attended the Council of Nicaea in 325; Neonas was at the Council of Seleucia in 359; Symposius at the Council of Constantinople in 381; Dexianus at the Council of Ephesus in 431; Basil, a celebrated orator and writer, whose conduct was rather ambiguous at the Second Council of Ephesus and at the beginning of the Council of Chalcedon in 451; Theodore was at the Fifth Ecumenical Council in 553; Macrobius at the Sixth Ecumenical Council and the Council in Trullo in 692.

Seleucia remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church, the seat is currently vacant following the death of the last bishop in 1971.^[10]

The Turkish period[]

In the 11th century, the city was captured by the Seljuk Turks; they met with resistance and in 1137, Seluecia was besieged by Leon of Cilician Armenia. During this period of struggle between Armenians, Byzantines, Crusaders and Turks a stronghold was built on the heights overlooking the city. On June 10, 1190, the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa was drowned trying to cross the Calycadnus, near Seleucia during the Third Crusade.

In the 13th century Seleucia was in the possession of the Hospitallers, who lost it to the Karamanoğlu Turks in the second half of the 13th century, and then it ended up in the hands of the Ottomans under general Gedik Ahmet Pasha in 1471.

Until 1930 Silifke was a province centre of İçel the Turkish Republic, but was reduced to being a district of Mersin as punishment for voting for the opposition party (Serbest Cumhuriyet Fırkası) in the general election of that year. In this year, İçel and Mersin provinces were merged and founded İçel one with her centre was Mersin. Finally name of İçel was replaced with Mersin in 2002.

Main sights[]

The caves of "Heaven and Hell" ('Cennet ve Cehennem'), which have collapsed in two places revealing deep holes in the ground.
Narlıkuyu is an attractive village, where people from Mersin come to eat fish and enjoy the seaside.
The picnic place in the forest Doktorun Yeri.
The town of Silifke has many well preserved ancient ruins including:
- The prominent remains of the castle high on a rock above the town,

- The city walls,
- A large water tank cut into the rock,
- An extensive necropolis of rock-cut tombs with inscriptions.

Life and culture[]

The Turkmen community of Silifke has a strong tradition of folk music and dance including songs such as The Yogurt of Silifke (where the dancers imitate the actions of making yogurt) and another one where they wave wooden spoons about as they dance.

The cuisine includes breakfast of leaves of unleavened bread (bazlama) with a dry sour cottage cheese (çökelek) or fried meats. Many other dishes feature bulgur wheat. The annual Silifke Yoghurt Festival takes place in May.

References[]

↑ Stephanus of Byzantium; Strabo, XIV, 670)
↑ Classical Gazetteer, page 312
↑ (variously cited)
↑ Acta Pauli et Theclae, an apocryphal work of the 2nd century
↑ (Denkschriften der k. Akadem. der Wissenschaft. philos.-histor. Klasse, Vienna, XLIV, 6, 105-08)
↑ (Echoes d'Orient, X, 145)
↑ Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte . . . Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 557.
↑ (Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, ed. Gelzer, 76)
↑ (Gelzer, op. cit., 573)
↑ Seleucia in Isauria (Titular See) [Catholic-Hierarchy]

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Encyclopædia Britannica (Eleventh). (1911). Cambridge University Press.
Şablon:Catholic

External links[]

Silifke(Türkçe)
HaberSilifke (Türkçe)
Silifke (Türkçe)
Silifke (Türkçe)
District governor's official website (Türkçe)
District municipality's official website (Türkçe)
Silifke Guide and Photo Album
Photo Albums
susanoğlu
Extensive photo site of Silifke, the temple and nearby sights

Şablon:Districts of Turkey

ca:Silifke de:Silifke es:Silifke eo:Silifke fr:Silifke it:Silifke sw:Silifke la:Seleucia ja:シリフケ pl:Silifke ru:Силифке tr:Silifke, Mersin

[1] Stephanus of Byzantium; Strabo, XIV, 670)

[2] Classical Gazetteer, page 312

[3] (variously cited)

[4] Acta Pauli et Theclae, an apocryphal work of the 2nd century

[5] (Denkschriften der k. Akadem. der Wissenschaft. philos.-histor. Klasse, Vienna, XLIV, 6, 105-08)

[6] (Echoes d'Orient, X, 145)

[7] Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte . . . Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 557.

[8] (Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, ed. Gelzer, 76)

[9] (Gelzer, op. cit., 573)

[10] Seleucia in Isauria (Titular See) [Catholic-Hierarchy]

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