Dana Island ( tr, Dana Adası, also called ''Kargıncık Adası'',
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Pithyussa'') is a small
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 Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
island of Turkey.
Geography
Dana Adası lies parallel to south coast of Turkey at in the province of
Mersin. The distance from the shore is . The passage between the main land and the island which is known as Kargıcak strait is a convenient passage for maritime traffic. The shape of the island is roughly rectangular with dimensions . The highest peak is . Dana Adası is quite rocky and covered with
maquis shrubland and yellow pine forest.
History
Francis Beaufort, who surveyed the south coast of Turkey in 1811–1812, states that the island was called Manavat by the local people, and Provençal Island by sailors. He suggested that this derived from the name of one of the ranks of the
Knights Hospitallers
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...
who occupied forts and islands along this coast.
According to recent research, there were many shipyards in Dana Island, probably dating to the
Late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(c. 1200 BC). Assistant professor Hakan Öniz says that the island was the largest proven shipyard in the ancient world. There are also some ruins at the southern coast of the main land facing the island. Probably, these two settlements were the control posts dominating the two extremes of the strait. The island was inhabited during the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
and early
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
era. There are ruins of a few churches, graves, houses, aqueducts, a Roman bath and a harbour establishment at the north of the island. According to some sources,
French merchants also used the island as their port during Middle Ages.
[''Pocket Guide of Mersin'', MTSO, Mersin, 2004]
See also
*
Aphrodisias of Cilicia
Aphrodisias ( grc, Ἀφροδισιάς), sometimes called Aphrodisias of Cilicia to distinguish it from the town of the same name in Caria, was a port city of ancient Cilicia whose ruins now lie near Cape Tisan in Mersin Province, Turkey.
G ...
References
External links
Dana Island
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dana Adasi
Islands of Turkey
Islands of Mersin Province
History of Mersin Province
Mediterranean islands