Tarsus, Mersin

Coordinates: 36°54′59″N 34°53′42″E / 36.9165°N 34.8951°E / 36.9165; 34.8951
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Tarsus (city)
)
Not to be confused with Tartu or Tartus.
Tarsus
District and municipality
Street view of the old town
Street view of the old town
Map showing Tarsus District in Mersin Province
Map showing Tarsus District in Mersin Province
Tarsus is located in Turkey
Tarsus
Tarsus
Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 36°54′59″N 34°53′42″E / 36.9165°N 34.8951°E / 36.9165; 34.8951
CountryTurkey
ProvinceMersin
Government
 • MayorAli Boltaç (CHP)
Area
2,029 km2 (783 sq mi)
Population
 (2022)[1]
350,732
 • Density170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)
Area code0324
Websitewww.tarsus.bel.tr

Tarsus (

Arabic: طَرسُوس Ṭarsūs) is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey.[2] Its area is 2,029 km2,[3] and its population is 350,732 (2022).[1] It is a historic city, 20 km (12 miles) inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Adana-Mersin metropolitan area, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Turkey. Tarsus forms an administrative district in the eastern part of Mersin Province and lies at the heart of the Çukurova
region.

With a history going back over 6,000 years, Tarsus has long been an important stop for traders and a focal point of many civilisations. During the Roman Empire, it was the capital of the province of Cilicia. It was the scene of the first meeting between Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and the birthplace of Paul the Apostle.

Tarsus is served by Adana Şakirpaşa Airport and is connected by Turkish State Railways to both Adana and Mersin.

Etymology

The ancient name Tarsos is derived from Tarsa, the original name given to the city by the

Syrian Antioch. The Romans knew it as Juliopolis, while it was Darson in Western Armenian and Tarson in Eastern Armenian
.

According to the

Cilicians. An oracle told him to found a city in the place where the flat (ταρσός) of his foot would touch the earth while he was dismounting from his horse after the victory.[5]

St. Paul's Well in Tarsus, Cilicia
St. Paul's Church
Interior of Saint Paul's Church

Geography

Located on the mouth of the

Cydnus in antiquity), which empties into the Mediterranean, Tarsus sits at a junction where land and sea routes connecting the Cilician plain (today called Çukurova), central Anatolia
and the Mediterranean Sea meet. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean region, with very hot, humid summers and chilly, damp winters.

Tarsus has a long history of commerce, and is still a commercial centre today, trading in the produce of the fertile Çukurova plain. Tarsus is also a thriving industrial centre for refining and processing for export. Industries include agricultural machinery, spare parts, textiles, fruit-processing, brick-making and ceramics.

Agriculture is an important source of income with half the local land area farmland (1,050 km2 [410 sq mi]) and most of the remainder forest or orchard. The farmland is mostly well-irrigated, fertilised and managed with up-to-date equipment.

History

Roman road in Tarsus

Foundation and prehistory

Excavation of the mound of

Early Bronze Ages
.

The settlement stood at the crossing of several important trade routes linking Anatolia to Syria and beyond. Because most of the ruins lie under the modern city, archaeology has barely touched the ancient city. As an important port in a merchant marine trade network spanning the eastern Mediterranean and beyond from before the third millennium, the city was always an important centre for cultural interchange with traces of its influence visible from pre-Homeric Greek evidence onwards. The city may have been of Anatolian or Semitic origin; it is first mentioned as Tarsisi in Neo-Assyrian records of the campaigns of Esarhaddon, as well as several times in the records of Shalmaneser I and Sennacherib, the latter having had the city rebuilt. A Greek legend connects it with the memory of the Assyrian king Sardanapalus (Ashurbanipal), still preserved in the Dunuk-Tach, called 'tomb of Sardanapalus', a monument of unknown origin. During the Hellenistic era it was a centre for exchange between Neo-Platonic, Gnostic and Mystery traditions.

Athenodorus of Tarsus
on another legend:

Anchiale, daughter of

Cydnus
, who gave his name to the river at Tarsus: the son of Cydnus was Parthenius, from whom the city was called Parthenia: afterwards the name was changed to Tarsus.

Much of this legendary account of the foundation of Tarsus, however, appeared in the Roman era, and it is not reliable. The geographer

Sandon. Tarsus has been suggested as a possible site for the biblical Tarshish, to which the prophet Jonah wanted to flee, but Tartessos in Spain has also been offered as a possible location for this. (See further[6]
)

Early antiquity

See also: Cilicia (satrapy)

In historical times, the city was first ruled by the Hittites, followed by Assyria, and then by the Persian Empire. As the principal town of Cilicia, Tarsus was the seat of a Persian satrapy from 400 BC onward. Indeed, Xenophon records that in 401 BC, when Cyrus the Younger marched against Babylon, the city was governed by King Syennesis in the name of the Persian monarch.

At this period the god of the city was Sandon, of whom a large monument existed at Tarsus at least until the 3rd century AD. Coins showed Sandon standing on a winged and horned lion, and it is now thought likely that the Lion of Saint Mark on the pillar in the Piazza San Marco in Venice was in origin a winged lion-griffin copied from such a monument in Tarsus.[7]

Alexander the Great passed through with his army in 333 BC and nearly met his death here after bathing in the Cydnus. By this time Tarsus was already largely influenced by Greek language and culture, and as part of the Seleucid Empire it became more and more Hellenised. Strabo praised the cultural level of Tarsus in this period with its philosophers, poets and linguists. The schools of Tarsus rivalled those of Athens and Alexandria. A reference in the Bible (2 Maccabees (4:30)) records the city's revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes in about 171 BC .The king had renamed the town Antiochia on the Cydnus although the name did not stick due because too many cities were named Antioch. At this time the library of Tarsus held 200,000 books, including a huge collection of scientific works.

Roman period

The huge Temple of Tarsus, one of the largest and most important in antiquity
Roman Era
.
Roman road in Tarsus

After crushing the feared Cilician pirates, Pompey brought Tarsus under Roman rule In 67 BC, and it became the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia.[8] To flatter Julius Caesar, it was briefly named Juliopolis. Cassius Longinus planned to kill him here as early as 47 BC, and Cleopatra and Mark Antony met and was the scene of the celebrated feasts they gave during the construction of their fleet (41 BC). In William Shakespeare's 1606 play Antony and Cleopatra (Act 5, Scene 2) Cleopatra says she is going to Cydnus to meet Antony after his death, (i.e. she will commit suicide to meet him in the afterlife). "Go fetch / My best attires: I am again for Cydnus, / To meet Mark Antony."

Cleopatra's Gate in Tarsus

In the Roman period, the city was an important intellectual centre, boasting its own academy. One of its leading lights, the philosopher Athenodorus Cananites, was the tutor of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, a fact which secured continuous imperial patronage for the city.[8]

When the province of Cilicia was divided, Tarsus remained the civil and religious metropolis of Cilicia Prima, a grand city with palaces, marketplaces, roads and bridges, baths, fountains and waterworks, a gymnasium on the banks of the

Julian the Apostate, who planned to move his capital here from Antioch if he returned from his Persian expedition.[9]

Early Christian and Byzantine eras

See also:
Early centers of Christianity § Anatolia
UN World Heritage
tentative list)

Tarsus was the city where, according to the

Syrian Antioch (Acts 11:25
).

By then, a

Saint Quiricus and Saint Julitta
.

The city remained largely pagan, however, up to the time of

Sassanid Persia, he was buried next to the city walls, opposite the earlier tomb of the Tetrarch Maximinus Daia.[14] Emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565) undertook public works in the city, altering the course of the Cydnus river and rebuilding the bridge. Towards the end of his reign, the city suffered from riots stirred up by the Hippodrome Blues faction.[14]

A cave near Tarsus is one of several places said to be the location of the legend of the Seven Sleepers, common to Christianity and Islam.

Bishopric

Lead seal of Theodore, Metropolitan of Tarsus (late 7th century)

The first recorded bishop of Tarsus, Helenus, went to Antioch several times in connection with the dispute concerning

Le Quien[16]
mentions twenty-two of its bishops, of whom several are legendary.

Tarsus was the

suffragan
bishoprics (Échos d'Orient, X, 145).

The Greek archdiocese, mentioned in the 10th century (Échos d'Orient, X, 98), has existed down to the present day as part of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.[17]

At about the end of the 10th century, the Armenians established a diocese of their rite; Saint Nerses of Lambron was its most distinguished representative in the 12th century.

Tarsus is included in the

Melkite Catholic Church.[18]

Residential bishops

Middle Ages

Further information:
Seljuk Sultanate, Sultanate of Rum, and Ayyubid dynasty

Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the city came into contact with the forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. It is unclear when the town was first captured by the Arabs, but it is clear that it, and the wider region of Cilicia, remained contested between the Byzantines and the new Caliphate for several decades, up to the early 8th century. According to Muslim sources, as he was retreating the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (r. 610–641) deliberately withdrew the population and devastated the region between Antioch and Tarsus, creating a no man's land between the two empires.[23]

It was not until the early

al-Massisa) were given houses and land in the new fortress city.[25] Tarsus was apparently recovered by the Byzantines soon after, at some point around the turn of the century. The city probably remained in Byzantine hands during the Abbasid civil war of the Fourth Fitna, but returned to Muslim control by 830 when Caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833) recommenced offensive campaigns against Byzantium using the city as a base.[26]

Henceforth and until the Byzantine reconquest in the 10th century, Tarsus was one of the main centres for the holy war (

Hamdanid emir Sayf al-Dawla of Aleppo, who had become the new master of northern Syria and the Byzantine borderlands. Facing a resurgent Byzantium, he was able to stem the tide for a while, but in 965,the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II Phokas (r. 963–969) captured the city, ending Muslim rule there.[29] Throughout this period, the governors of Tarsus also operated an active mint in the city.[30][31]

The terms of the city's surrender allowed any Muslim who wished to leave with as many of his possessions as he could carry. Many of those who left eventually settled, according to

Seljuk Turks and the Armenians of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Kingdom of Lesser Armenia).[14] The city was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia between 1080 and 1198. The Armenians became definitive masters until about 1359 when the city was captured by the Ramadanid Emirate and Mamluk Sultanate. Finally, the area was brought under the control of the Ottoman Empire by Selim I
in 1516.

In the Middle Ages, Tarsus was renowned throughout the Middle East; a number of Arab writers praised it as a beautiful and well-defended city, its walls having two layers of fortifications with five gates and earthworks outside, surrounded by rich farmland and watered by the river and the lake.

Ottoman and modern period

Further information: Ottoman Empire
Tarsus Grand Mosque (Ulu Cami)
Kırkkaşık (Forty Teaspoons) Bazaar

Under Ottoman rule, Tarsus initially formed part of the

Cyprus Eyalet, before being transferred in 1608 to the sanjak of Adana as a kaza (district).[24]

Visiting in 1671 the traveller Evliya Çelebi recorded "a city on the plain, an hour from the sea, surrounded by strong walls two-storeys high, moated on all sides, with three distinct neighbourhoods inside the walls".

Despite its excellent defences, Tarsus was captured from the Ottomans in 1832 by the

U.S. Civil War. A new road was built to the port in Mersin
and the city of Tarsus grew and thrived. Still today many large houses in the city stand as reminders of the wealth generated during this period.

However, after 3,000 years as a flourishing port, by the end of the 19th century neglect meant Tarsus lost its access to the sea as the delta became a swamp. At this point it was a typical Ottoman city with communities of Muslim Turks, Christian Greeks and Armenians. With the founding of the Turkish Republic in the 1920s, the swamp was drained and the River Berdan was dammed to build Turkey's first hydro-electric power station. Irrigation, roadworks and a railway brought the economy of Tarsus back to life, with new factories particularly producing textiles.

Composition

There are 180

neighbourhoods in Tarsus District:[32]

Cuisine

The distinctive local cuisine includes chargrilled chicken,

şalgam, tantuni, miniature lahmacun called "fındık lahmacun", and cezerye
, a dessert made from carrots.

Sports

Tarsus City Stadium

Tarsus has two football stadiums,

Tarsus Idman Yurdu
.

Main sites

Tarsus city centre is home to the magnificent homes of wealthy traders, some of them restored, some still waiting a saviour. Additionally it is home to several historic sites although some are in need of restoration and research. These sites have been described by travellers for well over a century. For instance Blackwood's Magazine (Edinburgh) in 1890,[33] and H. V. Morton's In the Steps of St Paul in 1936.[34]

The best known include:

  • Cleopatra's Gate – to the west of the city, the only ancient city gate still standing, where Antony and Cleopatra entered the city in 41 BC, though the "restoration" of this structure has covered much of it with shiny new stone (see [1] for a picture of the gate before the work was done).
  • Justinian over the Berdan River
    . It remains in good condition.
  • Tarsus Museum, containing many ancient coins and a severed mummified arm
  • Roman road north of Tarsus
  • Ancient road another Roman road in the town centre
  • Kızlar Kalesi
    , a medieval castle ruin
  • Gözlükule - slight remains of original settlement mound

Sites of religious interest and pilgrimage include:

  • St. Paul's Church and well (it is a museum, but occasionally Christian services take place here).
  • Mosque said to be the burial place of the Prophet Daniel.

From the Turkish period:

  • Tarsus Grand Mosque
    (Ulu Cami), 16th-century mosque
  • Bilal Habeşi Masjid
  • The old baths; the dark brown spots on the white marble walls are said to be the bloodstains of Shahmeran, the legendary Snake King who was killed in an ambush in the baths. (see Shahmeran Hamam)
  • "
    Battle of Gallipoli

Places of natural beauty include:

Notable residents

International relations

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Turkey

Tarsus is

twinned
with:

Gallery

  • Casemate of İbrahim Pasha
    Casemate of İbrahim Pasha
  • Roman Road
    Roman Road
  • Berdan waterfall
    Berdan waterfall
  • Tarsus American College, Stickler Building
    Tarsus American College, Stickler Building
  • Statue of Shahmaran (mythology)
    Statue of Shahmaran (mythology)
  • Ruins of Makam-ı Danyal Mosque
    Ruins of Makam-ı Danyal Mosque
  • Old Mosque converted from church
    Old Mosque converted from church
  • Kırkkaşık Bazaar
    Kırkkaşık Bazaar
  • The cave of seven sleepers
    The cave of seven sleepers
  • Toshkuyu cave
    Toshkuyu cave

See also

  • Tarsus (West Syriac Diocese)

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. ^ Sirkeli Archaeological Project Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Suda, mu, 406
  6. ^ Jonah 1:3 and the entry for Jonah in the Jewish Encyclopedia
  7. ^ See The Lion of Venice: edited by Bianca Maria Scarfi (Venice. 1990) pp.101 & 110
  8. ^
    JSTOR 1580607
    .
  9. ^ Roger Collins, Early Medieval Europe 300-1000 (Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999) p. 40.,
  10. ^ Acts 9:11
  11. ^ Acts 22:3
  12. ^ "I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." --Acts 22:3
  13. ISBN 978-0-8028-9017-7.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-504652-6
    .
  15. ^ Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, VI, xlvi; VII, v.
  16. ^
    OCLC 955922747
    .
  17. ^  Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Tarsus". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  18. ISBN 978-88-209-9070-1
    ), p. 984
  19. ^ Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica, VI, xlvi; VII, v). Le Quien (Oriens christianus, II, 869-76)
  20. ^ Michael the Syrian :89.
  21. ^ Michael the Syrian :102.
  22. ^
    OCLC 955922747
    .
  23. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-11211-7
    .
  25. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  26. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  27. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  28. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  29. JSTOR 1580607
    .
  30. ^ Miles, George C. (1957). "Islamic coins from the Tarsus excavations of 1935-1937". The Aegean and the Near East, Studies presented to Hetty Goldman. New York. pp. 297–312.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  31. JSTOR 596170
    .
  32. ^ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  33. ^ Bent J T. Tarsus – Past and Present. Blackwood's Magazine (Edinburgh) Volume 148, 1890 pp 616-625
  34. ^ H. V. Morton. In the Steps of St Paul, London: Rich & Cowan, 1936
  35. ^ "Muhtar Kent'ten, mezun olduğu okula 120 bin dolar". 20 November 2014.

External links

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