Seleucia in Isauria
| Silifke | |
|---|---|
 Silifke
|
|
| Coordinates: 36°22′34″N 33°55′56″E / 36.37611°N 33.93222°ECoordinates: 36°22′34″N 33°55′56″E / 36.37611°N 33.93222°E | |
| Country |
 Turkey
|
| Province | Mersin |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mustafa Turgut (CHP) |
| • Kaymakam | Fatih Damatlar |
| Area | |
| • District | 2,571.84 km2 (992.99 sq mi) |
| Population (2012) | |
| • Urban | 55,501 |
| • District | 114,238 |
| • District density | 44/km2 (120/sq mi) |
| Website | www |
Silifke (Greek: Σελεύκεια, Seleukeia, Latin: Seleucia ad Calycadnum) is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, 80 km (50 mi) 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.
Silifke was formerly called Seleucia on the Calycadnus — variously cited over the centuries as Seleucia [in] Cilicia, Seleucia [in,of] Isauria, Seleucia Trachea, and Seleucia Tracheotis —. The city took its name from its founder, King Seleucus I Nicator. The ancient Greek city of Olba (Turkish: Oura) was also within the boundaries of modern-day Silifke. The modern name is a corruption of the Latin Seleucia.
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.
Silifke has a mediterranean climate with hot and dry summers and mild and wet winters.
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. 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.
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Wikipedia