Dikilitaş is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of

Akdeniz Akdeniz is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 265 km2, and its population is 255,946 (2022). It covers the central and eastern part of the city of Mersin and the adjacent countryside. History The municipal ...

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 1,069 (2022). It takes its name from an ancient

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n monument.

Geography

Both the settlement and the monument are in Mersin municipality area. But the monument is secluded in the citrus gardens at about . The road from the city center to the monument is about . The settlement is situated slightly to the north of the monument.

History

In Turkish ''Dikilitaş'' means

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

. Dikilitaş in Mersin was a triumph monument erected by the

n king

Sennacherib Sennacherib ( or , meaning "Sin (mythology), Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 705BC until his assassination in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous A ...

after his victory against

Dorians The Dorians (; , , singular , ) were one of the four major ethnic groups into which the Greeks, Hellenes (or Greeks) of Classical Greece divided themselves (along with the Aeolians, Achaeans (tribe), Achaeans, and Ionians). They are almost alw ...

in 696 BC. When erected, the monument was on the ancient road to Tarsus and probably located in the urban fabric of the ancient city of

Anchiale Anchiale () 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. According to Strabo ...

.Yumuktepe page (by Şahin Özkan)
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Technical details

The monument is actually a rectangular conglomerate high, with a base area of 4 × 2 m² (6 × 12 ft²). Its marble cover (and possibly the sculpture on the monument) have since been ruined.

A legend

According to a popular legend there were two struggling families one in Tarsus and the other in

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

. The families made peace and the daughter of the Tarsus family and the son of the Silifke family got married. But after the bride’s brother died of natural causes in Silifke, the head of the Silifke family travelled to Tarsus to deliver the bad news. However, before reaching to Tarsus he met with the head of the Tarsus family on the spot where the monument is. The monument was erected by the grieving father.Legend page
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dikilitas, Mersin Neighbourhoods in Akdeniz District Tourist attractions in Mersin Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Obelisks in Turkey