Atakent is a town in Mersin Province,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Geography

Atakent is a

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coastal town in Silifke district which itself is a part of Mersin Province. Alluvial plains of Silifke lie in the west of the town and hilly coastline is in the east of the town. The town is on the

D 400 highway D.400 is an east–west state road in southern Turkey. The road starts at Datça in the southwest corner of the Anatolian peninsula. The road ends at the Iranian border at Esendere. D.400 runs through the cities of Marmaris, Fethiye, Ant ...

. The distance to

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

is and to Silifke is . The coordinates are about . The settled population is 6049 as of 2012.

History

The ruins of the historical town of

Korasion Korasion, also called Kalon Korakesion, was a town of ancient Cilicia, on the coast a little to the east of Seleucia ad Calycadnum, inhabited during the Roman and Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empi ...

which had been founded by Flavius Uranius, the governor of

Roman Province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Isauria Isauria ( or ; grc, Ἰσαυρία), in ancient geography, is a rugged, isolated, district in the interior of Asia Minor, of very different extent at different periods, but generally covering what is now the district of Bozkır and its surrou ...

between 367−375, is on the north east of the town. The ruins of Hellenistic and Roman settlement

Karakabaklı Karakabaklı is an archaeological site in Mersin Province, Turkey. Geography Karakabaklı is situated next to Karadedeli village (now a remote neighborhood of Atakent) in the rural area of Silifke district at . In the antiquity this region was ...

are to the north. The new town is actually formed by a

merger Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

of four

Turkmen Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to: Peoples Historical ethnonym * Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages Ethnic groups * Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish desc ...

villages in 1987. Now the former villages are quarters of the town. Susanoğlu quarter is at the east and Kapızlı quarter is at the west.

Economy

The main activity in Atakent with wide sandy beaches is tourism. Boarding houses and campings as well as newer hotels and clubs attract domestic tourists. Agriculture, especially forced crop agriculture is also an important activity. Fruits, like strawberries are well known products of Atakent.

References

Populated places in Mersin Province Populated coastal places in Turkey Towns in Turkey Tourist attractions in Mersin Province Populated places in Silifke District {{Turkey-geo-stub