Aydıncık, Mersin

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Coordinates: 36°10′N, 33°21′E

Aydıncık, Mersin
Location in Turkey
Overview
Region Mediterranean Region, Turkey
Province Mersin Province
Population 11,523 NA (2000)
Area 410 km²
Population density 28/km²
Elevation 105 m
Coordinates 36°10′ N 33°21′ E
Postal code 33xxx
Area code (0090)+ 324
Licence plate code 33

Aydıncık is a district of Mersin Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 173 km from Mersin and 325 km from Antalya.


Aydıncık has also been called Celenderis, Gilindire and Aydınışık.

This remote coastline is mostly unspoilt and 38 kilometers long, including some sandy beach, and the town of Aydıncık is spread along the coast near a small point, Sancak Burnu.


[edit] History

Aydıncık is the site of ancient Celenderis), a port and fortress in Isauria, thought to have been founded by the Phoenicians and one of the best harbours of this coast in ancient times. There must have been earlier settlement going back to the Hittites and Assyrians but so far no evidence has been uncovered.

Excavations carried out since 1986 reveal findings going back to the 8th century B.C. when Ionians from Samos moving eastwards established a port and market here. The city thrived during the 4th and 5th centuries BC as the easternmost member of the Attic Delos league, which was established under the leadership of the Athenians against the Persians, and silver coinage was minted here. This lasted until the arrival of the armies of Alexander the Great

During the Hellenistic era (1st century BC) Celenderis was in a political coalition with the kingdom of the Ptolemys of Egypt, and faced severe difficulties from piracy. This problem persisted until military actions by Ancient Rome against the pirates, after which Celenderis enjoyed a second period of wealth as the Romans secured the Mediterranean trade routes. They built a city around the port with villas, palaces, waterworks, and baths. During the Middle Ages, the grandeur persisted as the city was controlled by Byzantium, and in the 11th century the Armenians.

In 1228 Celenderis castle was captured from the Aremenians by the Karamanoğlu and the coast was settled by Turkish peoples. The town's name mutated to Gilindere and it continued to be an important port between Anatolia and Cyprus until the beginning of the twentieth century. It was renamed Aydıncık in 1965.

[edit] Places of interest

The remains of ancient Celenderis are very few. The Port Bath was most probably built during fourth or fifth centuries AD. The castle on the point and the theater apparently belong to the Roman era. In the graveyards of the city, rock graves, vaulted graves and pyramid roofed monumental graves can be seen spanning a period from sixth millennium B.C up to the fourth century. The majority of the items displayed at the museum are from these graves. A floor mosaic discovered near the port in 1992 is an exceptional example in depicting the panaroma of the city as it stood in the fifth century. There is a large Roman stone memorial or cenotaph with four feet, from the 2nd century. In 2002 a 2400 year-old harbor was discovered under water at the island of Yılanlı Ada.

More recently architecture includes the city walls from the Middle Ages and a 19th century church.

The cave of Gilindere is about an hour along the coast by small boat, and is 555m of attractive stone and crystal formations.

[edit] External links


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