Silifke | |
|---|---|
 Göksu River at Silifke | |
 Map showing Silifke District in Mersin Province | |
  Silifke Location in Turkey | |
| Coordinates:36°22′34″N33°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 | 49.28/km2 (127.6/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Area code | 0324 |
| Website | www |
Silifke is a municipality anddistrict ofMersin 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 ofMersin, on the west end of theÇukurova plain.
Silifke lies on theGöksu River, the ancient Calycadnus, near its outlet into theMediterranean. The river flows from the nearbyTaurus Mountains and the city is surrounded by attractive countryside along its banks.
TurkishSilifke (Turkish:[siˈlifce]) derives fromGreekSeléfkeia (Σελεύκεια,modern pronunciation:[seˈlefci.a]), the late medieval and modern form ofancient GreekSeleúkeia (Σελεύκεια;Latin:Seleucia), named for its founderSeleucus I Nicator,king of theSeleucid Empire. It was distinguished from themany other places of that name asSeleucia on theCalycadnus (Seleucia ad Calycadnum),Seleucia inCilicia,Seleucia inIsauria,SeleuciaTrachea, andSeleuciaTracheotis.[4]
The site of the ancient city ofOlba (Turkish:Oura) is also within the boundaries of modern-day Silifke.
Located a few miles from the mouth of theGöksu River, Seleucia was founded bySeleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BC, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns calledOlbia (or Olba) andHyria and that Seleucus I merely united them giving them his name. The city grew to include the nearby settlement ofHolmi (in modern-dayTaşucu) which had been established earlier as anIonian colony but being on the coast was vulnerable to raiders and pirates.[5] 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 ofCilicia (later namedIsauria), and was even a rival ofTarsus.[4]
Cilicia thrived as a province of theRomans, and Seleucia became a religious center with a renowned 2nd centuryTemple ofJupiter. It was also the site of a noted school ofphilosophy andliterature, the birthplace ofperipateticsAthenaeus andXenarchus.[6] Thestone bridge was built by the governor L. Octavius Memor in 77 AD. Around 300 ADIsauria was established as an independent state with Seleucia as the capital.
EarlyChristianbishops held aCouncil of Seleucia in[7] 325, 359, and 410. Seleucia was famous for the tomb of the virgin SaintThecla of Iconium, converted bySaint Paul, who died at Seleucia,[8] the tomb was one of the most celebrated in the Christian world and was restored several times, among others by the EmperorZeno in the 5th century, and today the ruins of the tomb and sanctuary are calledMeriamlik.[9] In the 5th century the imperial governor (comes Isauriae) in residence at Seleucia had twolegions at his disposal, theLegio II Isaura and theLegio III Isaura. From this period, and perhaps later, dates the Christiannecropolis, west of the town, which contains many tombs of Christian soldiers.[10] According to theNotitia Episcopatuum of thePatriarchate of Antioch, in the 6th century, theMetropolitan of Seleucia had twenty-four suffragan sees.[11]
In 705 Seleucia was captured by the Arab armies of Islam and was recovered by theByzantines. Thus by 732 nearly all theecclesiastical province of Isauria was incorporated into thePatriarchate of Constantinople; henceforth the province figures in theNotitiae of thePatriarchate of Constantinople, but under the name ofPamphylia.
In theNotitiae ofLeo VI the Wise (ca. 900) Seleucia had 22 suffragan bishoprics;[12] in that ofConstantine Porphyrogenitus (ca 940) it had 23.[13] In 968 Antioch again fell into the power of theByzantines, and with the Province of Isauria, Seleucia was allocated to thePatriarchate of Antioch.[14] We know of several metropolitans of this see, the first of whom,Agapetus, attended theCouncil of Nicaea in 325;Neonas was at the Council of Seleucia in 359;Symposius at theCouncil of Constantinople in 381;Dexianus at theCouncil of Ephesus in 431;Basil, a celebrated orator and writer, whose conduct was rather ambiguous at theSecond Council of Ephesus and at the beginning of theCouncil of Chalcedon in 451;Theodore was at theFifth Ecumenical Council in 553;Macrobius at theSixth Ecumenical Council and theCouncil in Trullo in 692.
No longer a residential see, Seleucia in Isauria has been included in the list oftitular sees of theCatholic Church, which has made no new appointments of atitular bishop to this eastern see since theSecond Vatican Council.[15]
In the 11th century, the city was captured by theSeljuk Turks; they met with resistance and in 1137, Seleucia was besieged byLeon ofCilician 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 EmperorFrederick Barbarossa was drowned trying to cross the Calycadnus,[4] near Seleucia during theThird Crusade.
In the 13th century Seleucia was in the possession of theHospitallers, who lost it to theKaramanid Principality in the second half of the 13th century, and then it ended up in the hands of theOttomans under generalGedik Ahmet Pasha in 1471.
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 atMersin. Finally in 2002 the name of İçel was replaced with that of Mersin.
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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 fertileGöksu 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.
Silifke has ahot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classificationCsa) with hot and dry summers and mild and wet winters.
| Climate data for Silifke (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 14.9 (58.8) | 16.4 (61.5) | 19.7 (67.5) | 23.4 (74.1) | 27.4 (81.3) | 31.0 (87.8) | 33.6 (92.5) | 34.2 (93.6) | 32.2 (90.0) | 28.7 (83.7) | 22.3 (72.1) | 16.8 (62.2) | 25.1 (77.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.5 (50.9) | 11.5 (52.7) | 14.6 (58.3) | 18.1 (64.6) | 22.2 (72.0) | 26.0 (78.8) | 28.8 (83.8) | 29.3 (84.7) | 26.7 (80.1) | 22.8 (73.0) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.2 (54.0) | 20.0 (68.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 7.4 (45.3) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.3 (50.5) | 13.3 (55.9) | 17.2 (63.0) | 21.1 (70.0) | 24.1 (75.4) | 24.6 (76.3) | 21.7 (71.1) | 18.4 (65.1) | 13.2 (55.8) | 9.1 (48.4) | 15.7 (60.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 109.79 (4.32) | 74.4 (2.93) | 46.96 (1.85) | 26.87 (1.06) | 26.79 (1.05) | 5.26 (0.21) | 1.54 (0.06) | 2.06 (0.08) | 8.96 (0.35) | 34.18 (1.35) | 86.53 (3.41) | 131.65 (5.18) | 554.99 (21.85) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 8.4 | 6.8 | 4.9 | 3.9 | 3 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 4.6 | 8.2 | 48.6 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 59.2 | 58.6 | 59.4 | 62.3 | 64.2 | 64.7 | 65.3 | 63.7 | 57.9 | 53.8 | 54.0 | 58.9 | 60.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 146.1 | 162.5 | 221.5 | 244.9 | 282.5 | 312.5 | 333.9 | 323.2 | 288.5 | 238.7 | 181.6 | 140.3 | 2,876.2 |
| Source:NOAA[16] | |||||||||||||
There are 88neighbourhoods in Silifke District:[17]
The town of Silifke has many interesting sites including:
Other notable sites outside the town are:
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TheTurkmen community of Silifke has a strong tradition of folk music and dance including songs such asThe Yogurt of Silifke (where the dancers imitate the actions of makingyogurt) 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 featurebulgur wheat. The annualSilifke Yoghurt Festival takes place in May.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Seleucia Trachea".Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
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