district
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
Antalya Province
Antalya Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. It is located on the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taur ...
,
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 area is 1,111 km2, and its population is 53,702 (2022). It is situated 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
coast, 180 km east of the city of
Antalya
Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...
. Gazipaşa is a quiet rural district famous for its bananas and oranges. Gazipaşa district is adjacent to
Alanya
Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...
to the northwest,
Sarıveliler
Sarıveliler is a town in Karaman Province in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. It is the seat of Sarıveliler District.Anamur
Anamur is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,430 km2, and its population is 66,846 (2022). It is the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernm ...
to the east, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west.
Geography
The district of Gazipaşa stands on a narrow strip of coast between the Mediterranean Sea and the high
Taurus Mountains
The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...
rising steeply behind (highest point the 2253m "Deliktaş". Prehistoric animal remains (shelled sea animals) can be found at many locations in the mountains. Before these were the Taurus Mountains (
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
Age) these peaks were below the sea.
The coast road is winding
Alanya
Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...
, but good with four lanes in places making Gazipaşa easy to access from Antalya and Alanya. From Gazipaşa east the road is two lanes but in the process of being improved to four. It is 80 km to the next town
Anamur
Anamur is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,430 km2, and its population is 66,846 (2022). It is the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernm ...
which takes two hours to drive). The remote rocky hillsides are home to snakes, scorpions and other wildlife such as deer, rabbits, wild boar, wild sheep and badgers. There is 50 km of coastline, half of which is sandy beach and rocky stretches with small coves that can be used for swimming. The beaches of Gazipaşa are used as nesting grounds by
loggerhead sea turtle
The loggerhead sea turtle (''Caretta caretta'') is a species of sea turtle, oceanic turtle distributed throughout the world. It is a marine reptile, belonging to the Family (biology), family Cheloniidae. The average loggerhead measures around ...
s. Construction is forbidden in these sea turtle areas.
The local economy depends on agriculture and the land of the coastal strip is used for growing fruits and vegetables, especially citrus fruits and bananas. The mountainous areas have many fruit orchards and in recent years a large number of glasshouses have been built to produce crops such as cucumbers, strawberries and artichokes all year round in both locations. Some grain is grown and there is also much animal husbandry animals in the summer these animals are grazed higher in the mountains. Gazipasa has a dam (Gökçeler Barajı). There is also some forestry and fishing but only small industry. Its current mayor is Mehmet Ali Yılmaz.
Gazipaşa has not experienced the tourist boom of neighbouring
Alanya
Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...
but there are now efforts being made to attract tourists to the district by building a yacht marina and an international airport. Tourist attractions include some sites from antiquity, caves, beaches, the opportunity to appreciate the marvellous Taurus Mountain scenery with mountain walking or motor touring.
The Gazipaşa-Alanya Airport, opened in 2010, serves the tourist economies of
Alanya
Alanya (; ), formerly Alaiye, is a beach resort town, resort city, a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. It is on the southern coast of Turkey, in the country's Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean R ...
,
Anamur
Anamur is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,430 km2, and its population is 66,846 (2022). It is the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernm ...
hot-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Csa''), with very hot, dry summers, and mild winters with heavy rain.
Composition
There are 53
neighbourhoods
A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...
Çile
Çile is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Gazipaşa, Antalya Province, Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East T ...
Çobanlar
Çobanlar (, ''Anabora'') is a town of Afyonkarahisar Province in the Aegean Region, Turkey, Aegean region of Turkey. It lies in a plain 25 km east of the city of Afyon. It is the seat of Çobanlar District.Çörüş
* Cumhuriyet
* Doğanca
* Ekmel
*
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 ...
Karatepe
Karatepe ( Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the T ...
This is a part of the world with a long history, and there is evidence of Hittite settlement going back to 2000 BC, and it is assumed that this coast was settled long before that. The
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...
city of Selinus was established here on the River Kestros (today called ''Hacımusa'') by 628 BC, as part of the kingdom of
Cilicia
Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...
. In 197 BC the area passed into the hands of the
Ancient Romans
The Roman people was the ethnicity and the body of Roman citizenship, Roman citizens
(; ) during the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. This concept underwent considerable changes throughout the long history of the Roman ...
, and in the 2nd century AD the Emperor
Trajan
Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
died here after falling ill while journeying along the Mediterranean coast. His body was taken by his successor
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
for burial in Rome and for a period the town was named ''Traianapolis''.
The later Roman Empire (
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
) continued to rule the area until it was taken by the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...
who lost the area to the
Seljuk Turks
The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...
of `Ala' ad-Din Kay-Qubad in 1225. Selinus was retaken briefly by Armenians before the conquest of Karamanids in the end of the 13th century. During the area of the
Anatolian beyliks
Anatolian beyliks (, Ottoman Turkish: ''Tavâif-i mülûk'', ''Beylik''; ) were Turkish principalities (or petty kingdoms) in Anatolia governed by ''beys'', the first of which were founded at the end of the 11th century. A second and more exte ...
the coast including Selinti was controlled by the
Karamanid
The Karamanids ( or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman (), was a Turkish people, Turkish Anatolian beyliks, Anatolian beylik (principality) of Salur tribe origin, descended from Oghuz Turks, centered in South-Centra ...
clan of
Konya
Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
and was brought into the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in 1472 by
Gedik Ahmet Pasha
Gedik Ahmed Pasha (; died 18 November 1482) was an Ottoman statesman and admiral who served as Grand Vizier and Kapudan Pasha (Grand Admiral of the Ottoman Navy) during the reigns of sultans Mehmed II and Bayezid II.
Very little was known about ...
, naval commander of Sultan
Mehmet II
Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481.
In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
. The 17th century traveller
Evliya Çelebi
Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...
records Selinti as a group of 26 villages, with a well-kept mosque on the seafront along with a jetty for boats to Cyprus, and green mountains behind.
Archaeological research continues and in 2004 a team from
Florida State University
Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
found a small bronze statue of
Pegasus
Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...
dating back to 300 BC in the waters off Gazipaşa; it is now in the Museum of Alanya.
We can list the castles in Gazipaşa as
Selinus
Selinunte ( , ; ; ; ) was a rich and extensive ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia on the south-western coast of Sicily in Italy. It was situated between the valleys of the Cottone and Modione rivers. It now lies in the of Castelvetrano, b ...
,
Iotape
Iotape, Iotapa or Jotape ( or Ἰοτάπη) was a small town of ancient Cilicia, in the district called Selenitis, not far from Selinus (Cilicia), Selinus. It was later assigned to Isauria where it was the seat of a bishop; no longer the seat ...
Antiochia ad Cragum
Antiochia ad Cragum () also known as Antiochetta or Latin: Antiochia Parva (meaning "Little Antiochia") is an ancient Hellenistic city on Mount Cragus overlooking the Mediterranean coast, in the region of Cilicia, in Anatolia. In modern-day Turk ...
Brønnøysund
Brønnøysund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and the administrative centre of Brønnøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The town has a population (2024) of 5,093 and a population density of .
It is also a List of for ...
,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
*
Virovitica
Virovitica () is a Croatian city near the Hungary, Hungarian border. It is situated near the Drava river and belongs to the historic region of Slavonia. Virovitica has a population of 14,688, with 21,291 people in the municipality (census 2011). I ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
Gallery of various scenes
File:Ruins_-_panoramio_(38).jpg, Ruins
File:Руины_-_panoramio_(66).jpg, More ruins
File:АНТИОХИЯ_АД_КРАГУМ_-_panoramio.jpg, Even more ruins
File:Kilikien_-_Antiocheia_ad_Cragum2_-_panoramio.jpg, Yet more ruins
File:Aqueduct_-_panoramio_(3).jpg,
Roman aqueduct
The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...
ruins
File:Cemetery_romania_-_panoramio.jpg, Roman graves
File:Emerald_lagoon_-_panoramio.jpg, Emerald Lagoon
File:Gazipasa-Alanya_coast_01-3.jpg
File:Fener_Fish_Resturant_-_panoramio.jpg, A coastal restaurant
File:MHPGazipasa.JPG,
Nationalist Movement Party
The Nationalist Movement Party, or alternatively translated as Nationalist Action Party (, MHP), is a Turkish Far-right politics, far-right, ultranationalism, ultranationalist Political parties in Turkey, political party. The group is often de ...