Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the

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 ...

coast of southern

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

. It is the provincial capital of Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and district governorates:

Akdeniz Akdeniz is a municipality and district governorate in Greater Mersin, Turkey. Mersin is one of the 30 Metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Now in Mersin there are four second-level municipalities i ...

Mezitli Mezitli is a municipality and district governorate in Greater Mersin, Turkey. Mersin is one of 30 metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Now in Mersin there are four second-level municipalities in ad ...

Toroslar Toroslar is a municipality and district governorate in Greater Mersin, Turkey. Mersin is one of 30 metropolitan centers in Turkey with more than one municipality within city borders. Now in Mersin there are four second-level municipalities in a ...

and Yenişehir. As urbanisation continue towards the east, a larger metropolitan region combining Mersin with Tarsus and

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...

(the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area) is in the making with more than 3.3 million inhabitants. Mersin lies on the western side of the

Çukurova Çukurova () or the Cilician Plain (''Cilicia Pedias'' in antiquity), is a large fertile plain in the Cilicia region of southern Turkey. The plain covers the easternmost areas of Mersin Province, southern and central Adana Province, western Osm ...

, a geographical, economic and cultural region. It is an important hub for Turkey's economy, with Turkey's largest seaport located here. The city hosted the

2013 Mediterranean Games The 2013 Mediterranean Games ( tr, 2013 Akdeniz Oyunları), officially known as the XVII Mediterranean Games ( tr, XVII Akdeniz Oyunları) and commonly known as Mersin 2013, was an international multi-sport event held from 20 to 30 June 2013 i ...

. As of the 2021 estimation, the population of the Adana-Mersin Metropolitan Area was 33,000 inhabitants of whom 1,064,850 lived in the Mersin area made up of the four urban districts, making it the 11th most built-up area of Turkey. Adana Şakırpaşa Airport (ADA), , from Mersin city centre is the nearest international airport. Akgünler Denizciik offers ferries from Mersin to

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under t ...

(Mağusa) in

Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a '' de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Rec ...

. Mersin is linked to Adana via Tarsus by TCDD trains.

Etymology

The city was named after the aromatic plant genus '' Myrsine'' ( tr, Mersin, el, Μυρσίνη) in the family

Primulaceae The Primulaceae , commonly known as the primrose family (but not related to the evening primrose family), are a family of herbaceous and woody flowering plants including some favourite garden plants and wildflowers. Most are perennial though som ...

, a myrtle that grows in abundance in the area. The 17th-century Ottoman traveler

Evliya Çelebi Derviş Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi ( ota, اوليا چلبى), was an Ottoman explorer who travelled through the territory of the Ottoman Empire and neighboring lands over a period of forty years, recording ...

also recorded in his '' Seyahatnâme'' that there was a clan named the Mersinoğulları (Sons of Mersin) living in the area. In the 19th century Mersin was also referred to as Mersina.

History

Prehistory

This coast has been inhabited since the

9th millennium BC The 9th millennium BC spanned the years 9000 BC to 8001 BC (11 to 10 thousand years ago). In chronological terms, it is the first full millennium of the current Holocene epoch that is generally reckoned to have begun by 9700 BC (11.7 thousand ...

. Excavations by

John Garstang John Garstang (5 May 1876 – 12 September 1956) was a British archaeologist of the Ancient Near East, especially Egypt, Sudan, Anatolia and the southern Levant. He was the younger brother of Professor Walter Garstang, FRS, a marine bi ...

of the hill of Yumuktepe have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. Fortifications were put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 350 BC and 300 BC.

Classical era

Over the centuries, the city was ruled by many states and civilisations including the

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...

, Assyrians,

Urartians Urartu (; Assyrian: ',Eberhard Schrader, ''The Cuneiform inscriptions and the Old Testament'' (1885), p. 65. Babylonian: ''Urashtu'', he, אֲרָרָט ''Ararat'') is a geographical region and Iron Age kingdom also known as the Kingdom of Va ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ns,

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, ot ...

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

s and

Lagids The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic K ...

. During the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

period, the city bore the name Zephyrion (

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 ...

: Ζεφύριον) and was mentioned by numerous ancient authors. Apart from its natural harbour and strategic position along the trade routes of southern

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

, the city profited from trade in

molybdenum Molybdenum is a chemical element with the symbol Mo and atomic number 42 which is located in period 5 and group 6. The name is from Neo-Latin ''molybdaenum'', which is based on Ancient Greek ', meaning lead, since its ores were confused with lead ...

(white lead) from the neighbouring mines of Coreyra. Ancient sources attributed the best molybdenum to the city, which also minted its own coins. Mersin_Archaeological_Museum,_2

The area later became a part of 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 lett ...

province 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 co ...

, which had its capital at Tarsus, while nearby Mersin was the major port. The city, whose name was Latinised to Zephyrium, was renamed as Hadrianopolis in honour of the Roman emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

. After the death of the emperor

Theodosius I Theodosius I ( grc-gre, Θεοδόσιος ; 11 January 347 – 17 January 395), also called Theodosius the Great, was Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two ...

in 395 and the subsequent permanent division of the Roman Empire, Mersin fell into what became the

Byzantine Empire 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 ...

. The city was an

episcopal see An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...

under the

Patriarchate of Antioch Patriarch of Antioch is a traditional title held by the bishop of Antioch (modern-day Antakya, Turkey). As the traditional "overseer" (ἐπίσκοπος, ''episkopos'', from which the word ''bishop'' is derived) of the first gentile Christian c ...

Le Quien Michel Le Quien (8 October 1661, Boulogne-sur-Mer – 12 March 1733, Paris) was a French historian and theologian. He studied at Plessis College, Paris, and at twenty entered the Dominican convent in Faubourg Saint-Germain, where he made his p ...

names four bishops of Zephyrium: Aerius, present at the

First Council of Constantinople The First Council of Constantinople ( la, Concilium Constantinopolitanum; grc-gre, Σύνοδος τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) in AD 381 b ...

in 381; Zenobius, a

Nestorian Nestorianism is a term used in Christian theology and Church history to refer to several mutually related but doctrinarily distinct sets of teachings. The first meaning of the term is related to the original teachings of Christian theologian ...

, the writer of a letter protesting the removal of Bishop Meletius of

Mopsuestia Mopsuestia and Mopsuhestia ( grc, Μοψουεστία and Μόψου ἑστία, Mopsou(h)estia and Μόψου ''Mopsou'' and Μόψου πόλις and Μόψος; Byzantine Greek: ''Mamista'', ''Manistra'', ''Mampsista''; Arabic: ''al-Maṣṣ ...

by Patriarch John of Antioch (429–441); Hypatius, present at the

Council of Chalcedon The Council of Chalcedon (; la, Concilium Chalcedonense), ''Synodos tēs Chalkēdonos'' was the fourth ecumenical council of the Christian Church. It was convoked by the Roman emperor Marcian. The council convened in the city of Chalcedon, B ...

in 451; and Peter, present at the

Council in Trullo The Quinisext Council (Latin: ''Concilium Quinisextum''; Koine Greek: , ''Penthékti Sýnodos''), i.e. the Fifth-Sixth Council, often called the Council ''in Trullo'', Trullan Council, or the Penthekte Synod, was a church council held in 692 at ...

in 692. The bishopric is included in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

's list of

titular see A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...

s, but since the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

no new

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

of this Eastern see has been appointed.

Medieval Period

Cilicia was conquered by the

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

in the early 7th century, by which time it appears Mersin was a deserted site. The Arabs were followed by the Egyptian

Tulunids The Tulunids (), were a Mamluk dynasty of Turkic origin who were the first independent dynasty to rule Egypt, as well as much of Syria, since the Ptolemaic dynasty. They were independent from 868, when they broke away from the central authority ...

, then by the Byzantines between 965 and c.1080 and then by the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...

. From 1362 to 1608 the region was governed by the Ramadanid Principality, first as a protectorate of the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

s, then as an independent state for roughly a century and then as a protectorate of the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

from 1517,

Ottoman Empire

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, the region became a major supplier of

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

to make up for the high demand due to shortage. Railroads were extended to Mersin in 1866 from where cotton was exported by sea, and the city developed into a major trade centre. In 1909, Mersin's port hosted 645

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamship ...

s and 797,433 tons of goods. Before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Mersin exported mainly

sesame seed Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus '' Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

s, cotton, cottonseed, cakes and cereals, and livestock. Cotton was exported to Europe, grain to Turkey and livestock to

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

. Coal was the main import into Mersin at this time.

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...

was the largest shipping line to use the port at Mersin. In 1918, Mersin was occupied by French and British troops in accordance with the

Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (french: Traité de Sèvres) was a 1920 treaty signed between the Allies of World War I and the Ottoman Empire. The treaty ceded large parts of Ottoman territory to France, the United Kingdom, Greece and Italy, as well ...

. It was recovered by the

Turkish army The Turkish Land Forces ( tr, Türk Kara Kuvvetleri), or Turkish Army (Turkish: ), is the main branch of the Turkish Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. The army was formed on November 8, 1920, after the collapse of the ...

in 1921 at the end of the

Franco-Turkish War The Franco–Turkish War, known as the Cilicia Campaign (french: La campagne de Cilicie) in France and as the Southern Front ( tr, Güney Cephesi) of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey, was a series of conflicts fought between France (the ...

. In 1924, Mersin was made a province, and in 1933 Mersin and İçel provinces were merged to form the (greater Mersin) İçel Province. The capital of the province was Mersin. In 2002 the name of the province was changed to Mersin Province. As of 1920, Mersin had five piers at its port, with one privately owned by a railroad company serving Mersin, Tarsus, and

Modern Mersin

Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

s, huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban amenities. it has the longest seashore in Turkey as well as in the

Eastern Mediterranean Eastern Mediterranean is a loose definition of the eastern approximate half, or third, of the Mediterranean Sea, often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It typically embraces all of that sea's coastal zones, referring to commun ...

The Metropolitan Municipality has rescueed long stretches of the seafront with walkways, parks and statues, and there are still palm trees on the roadsides especially where the younger generation like to hang out in the cafés and patisseries of smart neighbourhoods such as Pozcu or Çamlıbel with many well-known shops and restaurants. The older city centre is a maze of narrow streets and arcades of little shops and cafes. Around the fish market several stalls and shops sell Mersin's signature dish

tantuni Tantuni is a spicy dish consisting of julienne cut beef or sometimes lamb stir-fried on a sac with a hint of cotton oil. It is a specialty of Mersin in Turkey. The meat in tantuni is first crushed and boiled in salted water, then fried in c ...

as well as grilled liver sandwiches. Mersin Halkevi

Since the start of the Syrian War in 1911 Mersin has acquired a large population of Syrian refugees whose presence is reflected in some of the shops, cafes and restaurants especially in the area of

known as Little Latakia.

Local Attractions

There are six museums within the Mersin urban area;

Mersin Archaeological Museum Mersin Archaeological Museum is a museum in Mersin, Turkey Location The museum is at to the east of Mersin Naval Museum, to the south of Muğdat Mosque and to the north of Adnan Menderes Boulevard. Its total land area , including the yard is ...

Mersin Atatürk Museum The Atatürk Museum in Mersin ( tr, Mersin Atatürk Evi Müzesi) is a two-storey house in Mersin, which hosted the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his wife in 1925. History The house was originally built in 1897 by H. Ch ...

Mersin Naval Museum Mersin Naval Museum ( tr, Mersin Deniz Müzesi) is a naval museum in Mersin, Turkey. Geography The museum is located in the Yenişehir municipality of Mersin. It is on Adnan Menderes Boulevard and about to the Mediterranean Sea side. It is next ...

Mersin State Art and Sculpture Museum Mersin State Art and Sculpture Museum ( tr, Mersin Devlet Resim ve Heykel Müzesi) is a museum in Mersin, Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental ...

Mersin Urban History Museum Mersin Urban History Museum ( tr, Mersin Kent Tarihi Müzesi) is a private museum in Mersin, Turkey. Location and the History The museum at is in Akdeniz secondary municipality of Mersin, ant it lies about from the Mediterranean Sea. It is a ...

, Mersin Water Museum. In the western suburb of Viranşehir (Ruined City) the remains of the ancient city of Soli/Pompeiiopolis stand close to the sea. Only two colonnades dating from the 2nd or 3rd century are obvious although the outline of the agora and of a mole from the harbour can just about be made out. The Chasms of Heaven and Hell are located in the rural region of

Silifke Silifke ( grc-gre, Σελεύκεια, ''Seleukeia'', la, Seleucia ad Calycadnum) is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of Çukurova. Silifke is near the Mediterranean co ...

, a district in Mersin. The chasms are two

sinkholes A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

that were naturally formed from underground waters melting the layer of limestone above. The heaven sinkhole has a small monastery located in the corner of the entrance. The deepest point of the sinkhole is 135 meters deep. The hell sinkhole is 128 meters deep. In mythology, there is a story of

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek relig ...

temporarily trapping

Typhon Typhon (; grc, Τυφῶν, Typhôn, ), also Typhoeus (; grc, Τυφωεύς, Typhōeús, label=none), Typhaon ( grc, Τυφάων, Typháōn, label=none) or Typhos ( grc, Τυφώς, Typhṓs, label=none), was a monstrous serpentine giant an ...

in the sinkhole.

Cuisine

Mersin is best known in Turkey for its

, and restaurants serving it can be found all over the country. The provincial cuisine includes specialties such as: * Ciğer kebap, (liver on

mangal Mangal Rajgan (or Manghal, Mangla) is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name *Mangal (singer), Afghan singer *Mangal Bagh (born 1973), Pakistani militant leader *Mangal Dhillon, Indian actor ...

), typically served on

lavaş Lavash ( hy, լավաշ) is a thin flatbread usually leavened, traditionally baked in a tandoor (''tonir'') or on a ''sajj'', and common to the cuisines of South Caucasus, Western Asia, and the areas surrounding the Caspian Sea. Lavash is one ...

with an assortment of

meze Meze or mezza (, ) is a selection of small dishes served as appetizers in the Levant, Turkey, Greece, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Iran. It is similar to Spanish tapas and Italian antipasti. A mezze may be served as a part of a multi-course ...

at 12 skewers at a time, *

Tantuni Tantuni is a spicy dish consisting of julienne cut beef or sometimes lamb stir-fried on a sac with a hint of cotton oil. It is a specialty of Mersin in Turkey. The meat in tantuni is first crushed and boiled in salted water, then fried in c ...

, a hot

wrap consisting of

julienned Julienne, , or french cut, is a culinary knife cut in which the food item is cut into long thin strips, similar to matchsticks. Common items to be julienned are carrots for , celery for , potatoes for julienne fries, or cucumbers for . Trimmi ...

lamb stir-fried on a sac on a hint of

cottonseed oil Cottonseed oil is cooking oil from the seeds of cotton plants of various species, mainly '' Gossypium hirsutum'' and ''Gossypium herbaceum'', that are grown for cotton fiber, animal feed, and oil. Cotton seed has a similar structure to other oi ...

, * Bumbar or mumbar, lamb

intestines The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

filled with a mixture of

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

meat Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...

and

pistachio The pistachio (, ''Pistacia vera''), a member of the cashew family, is a small tree originating from Central Asia and the Middle East. The tree produces seeds that are widely consumed as food. ''Pistacia vera'' is often confused with other spe ...

s, that are served either grilled or steamed, famous throughout the

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

, *

Cezerye Cezerye is a semi-gelatinous traditional Turkish dessert made from caramelised carrots, shredded coconut, and roasted walnuts, hazelnuts, or pistachios. Cut into matchbox-sized rectangular chips it is served on special occasions. It originated ...

, a lokum made of sweet

carrot The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', na ...

s, covered in ground

s or

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

s, * Karsambaç, a variety of shaved ice served with pekmez or honey as toppings, *Kadaif#Kun.C4.81fah.2FK.C3.BCnefe, Künefe, a wood-oven baked dessert based on a mixture of cheese and pastry; known all throughout the

, *Ma'amoul, Kerebiç, a shortbread filled with pistachio paste, also famous throughout the

, *Şalgam, Şalgam suyu, a beverage made of fermentation (food), fermented carrot, red carrots, very popular in Southern Turkey.

Climate

Mersin has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: ''Csa'', Trewartha climate classification: ''Cs''), a type of subtropical climate with hot, humid summers and mild, wet winters. Mersin has its highest rainfall in winter. The driest months are in summer with hardly any rainfall at all. The highest temperature of Mersin was recorded on 3 September 2020 at 41.5 °C (106.7 °F).

Demographics

The population of the city was 1,035,652 (Mersin Province: 1,840,425) according to 2019 estimates. The population of the sub municipalities within Greater Mersin is shown below:" target="_blank" class="mw-redirect" title="Population page">Population page
/ref>

Religion

Sent_Antuan_Latin_Katolik_Kilisesi_ön_cepheden

The Mersin Interfaith Cemetery, in the Yusuf Kılıç district, is serves as a cemetery for all religions with graves of Muslims, Christians and Jews.

Economy and transportation

The Port of Mersin is the mainstay of city's economy. It is an international hub for many vessels routing to European countries, and is currently being operated by PSA International. There are 45 piers in a total port area of , with a capacity of 6,000 ships per year. Next to the port is the Mersin Free Zone, established in 1986 as List of free zones of Turkey, the first free zone in Turkey, with warehouses, shops, assembly-disassembly, maintenance and engineering workshops, banking and insurance, packing-repacking, labelling and exhibition facilities. The zone is a publicly owned cenre for foreign investors, close to major markets in the (Middle East, North Africa, East Europe, East and West Europe, the Russian Federation and Central Asia. In 2002 the free zone's trading volume was USD 51.8 billion. Historically, Mersin was a major producer of cottonseed oil. The area around Mersin is famous for citrus and cotton production. Bananas, olives and assorted other fruits are also produced. Forum Mersin, the biggest shopping mall, is home to more than 100 shops. Mersin_gar_giriş

Mersin has highway connections to the north, east and west. It is also connected to the southern railroad. Mersin railway station in the district of

has been in use since 1886. Opened on 28 February 2015, Mersin Bus Terminus is the terminus for intercity bus services, replacing the bus station that had been in the city centre since 1986. A Mersin Metro, metro system with 11 stations and a length of is scheduled to open at the end of 2023. Work is underway to complete the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, Turkey's first nuclear power plant, some 80 miles west of Mersin. Environmental groups, such as Greenpeace, have opposed the construction.Demonstration against nuclear power in Mersin
Firat News agency

Culture

Mersin is home to a State Opera and Ballet, the fourth in Turkey after Istanbul, İzmir and Ankara. Mersin International Music Festival was established in 2001 and takes place every October. The photography associations Mersin Fotoğraf Derneği (MFD) and Mersin Olba Fotoğraf Derneği (MOF) are amongst the city's most popular and active cultural organisations. Some cultural activities are sponsored by the İçel sanat kulübü, İçel Sanat Kulübü (Art Club of Mersin) and Mediterranean Opera and Ballet Club. The Mersin Citrus Festival is a festival organized to promote the citrus produced in Mersin. The festival typically includes folk dancers from different traditions and sculptures constructed from different types of citrus. The first festival was held in 2010. The festival is held annually on a weekend in November.

Media

;Local TV channels
Kanal 33
* İçel TV * Sun RTV * Güney TV ;Local radio channels * Radyo Metropol (101.8) *Tarsus Süper FM (91.1) * Tempo 94 FM (94.3) * Örgün FM (94.7) * Tarsus Star FM (95.5) * Tarsus Radyo Time (97.7) * Flaş FM (98.3) * Mix FM (91.6) (sadece yabancı müzik, 1993-günümüz) * Kent Radyo (98.5)

Sports

The city was formerly home to Mersin İdman Yurdu, a football club that played in the Süper Lig as recently as the 2015–16 Süper Lig, 2015–16 season. The Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K., men's basketball team of the Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. plays in the Turkish Basketball League while its Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi (women's basketball), women's basketball team plays in the Turkish Women's Basketball League. The city has two football stadiums: Mersin Arena, with a seating capacity of 25,534, and Tevfik Sırrı Gür Stadium, which has a capacity of 10,128. The men's and women's basketball teams of the Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. play their home matches at the Edip Buran Sport Hall, which has a seating capacity of 2,700. Eleven new sports venues were built for Mersin to host the

. The Servet Tazegül Arena, the fourth biggest indoor arena of Turkey with its 7,500 seating capacity, hosted the men's basketball events and the volleyball finals of the Games. The athletics (sport), athletics and paralympic athletics events were held at the Nevin Yanıt Athletics Complex. File:Mersin Gymnastics Hall, Turkey.JPG, Mersin Gymnastics Hall File:Mersin Olympic Swimming Pool, Turkey.jpg, Mersin Olympic Swimming Pool File:Mersin_Olympic_Stadium.JPG, Mersin Arena File:Sportshall in Mersin, Turkey.JPG, Sporthall in Mersin

Education

Mersin University was founded in 1992 and started teaching in 1993–1994, with eleven faculties, six schools and nine vocational schools. The university has had about 10,000 graduates, has broadened its current academic staff to more than 2,100 academicians, and enrols 22,000 students a yer. Toros University is a non-profit private foundation established in Mersin in 2009. Çağ University Tarsus University

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Mersin is town twinning, twinned with: * Durban, South Africa * Gazi Mağusa, Northern Cyprus Gazi Mağusa, also known as Famagusta is ''de jure'' a part of Republic of Cyprus, but the city is ''de facto'' administrated by the self declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The twinning is between Northern Cypriot and Turkish administration. * Kherson, Ukraine * Klaipėda, Lithuania * Kushimoto, Wakayama, Kushimoto, Japan, where there is a Kushimoto Turkish Memorial and Museum, Turkish Memorial and Museum in commemoration of the 1890-sunken Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul, Ottoman frigate ''Ertuğrul''. A street in Mersin is named after the Japanese town. * Nizhnekamsk, Russia * Oberhausen, Germany * Ölgii (city), Ölgii, Mongolia * Ufa, Russia * Valparaíso, Chile * West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach, United States

Notable people

* Evelyn Baghtcheban – one of the pioneers of opera and choral music in Iran * Anton Christoforidis – List of light-heavyweight boxing champions, NBA Light Heavyweight Champion * Muazzez İlmiye Çığ – academic and writer * Haldun Dormen – theatre & film actor and director * Musa Eroğlu – composer, musician * Manuş Baba - the most famous Pop folk and classical music singer-songwriter * Uğur Ersoy – engineering academic * Reşit Galip – former minister of National education * Ahmet Mete Işıkara – scientist * Müfide İlhan – first woman mayor in Turkey in the 1950s * Gencay Kasapçı – painter * Özgecan Aslan - Mersin University psycology student * Bergen (singer), Bergen - arabesque music and classical music singer and actress * Konca Kuriş - the feminist İslamist writer, journalist and activist * Ercan Saatçi, Metin Özülkü - musician, singer-songwriter and arranger * Ahmet Kireççi (aka Mersinli Ahmet) – Olympic medalist wrestler * Nevit Kodallı – composer * Seyhan Kurt – poet, writer, sociologist * Cemal Mersinli – a pasha of the Ottoman Empire * İpek Ongun – writer * Macit Özcan – former mayor * Fikri Sağlar – former Minister of Culture * Suna Tanaltay – writer and psychologist. * Nevin Yanıt – female sprinter (European champion in 100 m hurdles) * Atıf Yılmaz – film director and producer * Mabel Matiz – pop music singer-songwriter * Tuğba Şenoğlu – volleyball player * Emre Demir – footballer

Mersin Metropolitian Municipality Mayors

* 1984 Turkish local elections, 1984-1989 Turkish local elections, 1989 Hüseyin Okan Merzeci Motherland Party (Turkey), ANAP * 1989 Turkish local elections, 1989-1994 Turkish local elections, 1994 Ahmet Kaya Mutlu Social Democratic Populist Party (Turkey), SHP * 1994 Turkish local elections, 1994-February 28 process, 1997 Hüseyin Okan Merzeci Motherland Party (Turkey), ANAP * February 28 process, 1997-1999 Turkish local elections, 1999 Hasan Kuriş Motherland Party (Turkey), ANAP * 1999 Turkish local elections, 1999-2002 Turkish general election, 2002 Macit Özcan Democratic Left Party (Turkey), DSP * 2002 Turkish general election, 2002-2014 Turkish local elections, 2014 Macit Özcan Republican People's Party, CHP * 2014 Turkish local elections, 2014-2017 Turkish referendum, 2017 Burhanettin Kocamaz Nationalist Movement Party, MHP * 2017 Turkish referendum, 2017-2019 Turkish local elections, 2019 Burhanettin Kocamaz Good Party * 2019 Turkish local elections, 2019-current Vahap Seçer Republican People's Party, CHP

References

* Blue Guide, Turkey, The Aegean and Mediterranean Coasts (), pp. 556–557. * Blood-Dark Track: A Family History (Granta Books) by Joseph O'Neill (born 1964), Joseph O'Neill, contains a detailed and evocative history of the city, viewed from the perspective of a Christian Syrian family long resident in Mersin. * Richard Talbert, Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, (), p. 66 *

External links

Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites

{{Authority control Mersin, Çukurova Cilicia Mediterranean port cities and towns in Turkey Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Cities in Turkey Populated coastal places in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia, Zephyrium Seaside resorts in Turkey Populated places in Mersin Province Geography of ancient Anatolia