Yanıkhan is an archaeological site in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of f ...

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 in ...

. It is about northwest of Limonlu town. It is to the east of

Limonlu Limonlu (ancient: ''Antiochia Lamotidos''; Byzantine: ''Lamousia''; Arabic: ''Lāmis''; Armenian: ''Lamos'') is a small town in Mersin Province, Turkey (Popularly called Lamas). Geography Limonlu is a coastal town at It is by the river Limon ...

Esenpınar Esenpınar is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Erdemli, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 1,287 (2022). Before the 2013 reorganisation, it was a town (''belde''). Geography Esenpınar is located in the rural area ...

road and west of

Limonlu River The Limonlu River ( grc, Λάμος ''Lamos''; Latin: ''Lamus''), also known as ''Gökler Deresi'', is a river of ancient Cilicia, now in Mersin Province, Turkey. The river rises at Yüğlük Dağı in the Taurus mountains and flows through deep ...

at about . Its distance to Erdemli is and to Mersin is .

History

The original name of the site is not known. But according to archaeological evidence it is a 5th and 6th century

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 ...

site. First reference to its existence was by Professor Michael Gough in 1959.

Archaeology

Yanıkhan was a village. There are more than 30 house ruins. The most important building is a basilica. Although the houses are completely demolished a part of the basilica survives. In addition to main abscissa there are two minor abscissas. There are two

sarcophagi A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...

. One may be an

arcosolium An arcosolium, plural arcosolia, is an arched recess used as a place of entombment. The word is from Latin , "arch", and , "throne" (literally "place of state") or post-classical "sarcophagus". Early arcosolia were carved out of the living rock ...

which may belong to a certain Georgios Konon Chrisyophoros who, according to an inscription, was the commissioner of the basilica. There is also a cistern to the west of the basilica.Mersin Valiliği: Mersin Ören yerleri, Kaleleri, Müzeleri, İstanbul, 2009, , p 169 to the east of the basilica there is another church (called ''Church B'' by the archaeologists).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yanikhan Erdemli District Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey