Silifke

Silifke
Göksu River at Silifke
Map showing Silifke District in Mersin Province
Silifke Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 36°22′34″N 33°55′56″E / 36.37611°N 33.93222°E / 36.37611; 33.93222
Country	Turkey
Province	Mersin
Government
• Mayor	Mustafa Turgut (CHP)
Area	2,692 km2 (1,039 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[1]	132,665
• Density	49/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Area code	0324
Website	www.silifke.bel.tr

Silifke, anciently Seleucia (Greek: Σελευκεία), is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey.^[2] Its area is 2,692 km²,^[3] and its population is 132,665 (2022).^[1] It is 80 km (50 mi) west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain.

Silifke lies on the

The site of the ancient city of Olba (Turkish: Oura) is also within the boundaries of modern-day Silifke.

History

Antiquity

Located a few miles from the mouth of the

In 705 Seleucia was captured by the Arab armies of Islam and was recovered by the

No longer a residential see, Seleucia in Isauria has been included in the list of titular sees of the Catholic Church, which has made no new appointments of a titular bishop to this eastern see since the Second Vatican Council.^[15]

Turkish period

In the 11th century, the city was captured by the

Until 1933, Silifke was the capital of İçel Province, but then, İçel and Mersin provinces were merged. The merged province took the name of İçel but with its administrative centre at Mersin. Finally in 2002 the name of İçel was replaced with that of Mersin.

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 a

Main sights

The town of Silifke has many interesting sites including:

• The prominent remains of the Silifke Castle high on a rock above the town,
• The city walls,
• A large water tank (
  Tekir ambarı
  ) cut into the rock,
• An extensive necropolis of rock-cut tombs with inscriptions.
• Aya Tekla Church
• Silifke Museum
• Cyprus Memorial Forest in Silifke

Other notable sites outside the town are:

• 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.
• Dana Island
• The archaeological sites Işıkkale, Karakabaklı, Gökkale, Meydan Castle, Sinekkale, Olba

• 
  Outer walls of the castle of Silifke
• 
  Silifke castle
• 
  Bar next to the castle of Silifke
• 
  Touristic panel describing the castle of Silifke
• 
  Aya Tekla Church
• 
  Tekir ambarı

  cistern

Life and culture

The

• Other Seleucias

References

1. ^
   TÜİK
   . Retrieved 12 July 2023.
2. ^ Büyükşehir İlçe Belediyesi, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
3. ^ "İl ve İlçe Yüz ölçümleri". General Directorate of Mapping. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
4. ^ ^{a b c} Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Seleucia" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 24 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 603.
5. ^ Stephanus of Byzantium; Strabo, XIV, 670)
6. ^ "Classical Gazetteer, page 312". Archived from the original on 2012-12-04. Retrieved 2006-02-26.
7. ^ (variously cited)
8. apocryphal
   work of the 2nd century
9. ^ (Denkschriften der k. Akadem. der Wissenschaft. philos.-histor. Klasse, Vienna, XLIV, 6, 105-08)
10. ISBN 978-0-8028-9017-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
11. ^ (Echoes d'Orient, X, 145)
12. ^ Heinrich Gelzer, Ungedruckte . . . Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum, 557.
13. ^ (Georgii Cyprii descriptio orbis romani, ed. Gelzer, 76)
14. ^ (Gelzer, op. cit., 573)
15. ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1
    ), p. 968.
16. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Silifke". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
17. ^ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Seleucia Trachea". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Silifke.

• District governor's official website (in Turkish)
• District municipality's official website (in Turkish)
• Silifke Guide and Photo Album
• susanoğlu
• Extensive photo site of Silifke, the temple and nearby sights
• Carefully documented photographic survey and plan of Silifke Castle