Aulae or Aulai ( grc, Αὐλαί) was a town in

ancient Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...

, and now is an archaeological site close 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 ...

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

The site seems to be situated in

Kazanlı Kazanlı is a town in the greater Mersin municipality, Turkey. Geography Kazanlı is approximately east of Mersin center at . It is a Mediterranean coastal town. East of the town, there are small settlements surrounded by fields. Towards west a ...

, a neighborhood of Mersin.

History

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

had mentioned Aulae as a port of

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...

between Tarsus and

Anchiale Anchiale ( grc, Ἀγχιάλη) or Anchialeia was a historic city of ancient Cilicia now a part of modern Mersin, Turkey. It was inhabited during the Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine eras. History The main informant about Anchiale was Strabo. ...

, which was a settlement close to

Zephyrion Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and district governorates: Akdeniz, Mezit ...

(present Mersin centrum). Although Hansgerd Hellenkemper initially proposed a place slightly west of Kazanlı for Aulae, recent findings fixed Kazanlı as the location of Aulae.

Findings

Up to 2012, the only place of historical importance in Kazanlı was that of Topraktepe tumulus to the north of the settlement. In 2012, a group of

amphora An amphora (; grc, ἀμφορεύς, ''amphoreús''; English plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storag ...

s were found in Kazanlı close to

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 ...

coast. Most of the amphoras were LR1 (Late Roman) amphoras. There were also LR4 amphoras as well. The amount of amphoras suggest a ceramics production workshop and a busy port. Thus according to Murat Durukan of

Mersin University Mersin University ( tr, Mersin Üniversitesi) is a public university, built in 1992 in Mersin Province, Turkey. It has about 39,000 students, 1,813 academic staff, and a number of foreign and guest academic staff. The university has research and ...

, Kazanlı can be identified with Aulae. İçel Sanat Kulübü Dergisi, No 209, sf 40

References

Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Ancient ports and harbours Byzantine Anatolia Akdeniz District Populated places in ancient Cilicia {{Mersin-geo-stub