Adana

Adana, the fourth largest city in Turkey, is more of a business center than a tourist city. Situated on the Cukurova Plain in the ancient Cilician Territory, the city’s economy is based mainly on agriculture. Daily flights from Istanbul make Adana a good starting point for trips to the eastern Mediterranean.

Around the 10th century B.C., Greek traders in Adana had ties to the Mesopotamian Region. According to the Bible, Solomon imported horses from the Coa Plain (Cukurova).

The Seyhan River (ancient Sarus) passes through the city. Tas Kopru (“stone bridge”), which crosses the Seyhan River, was built by the Romans and is still in use today. The Archaeological Museum has interesting finds from different Hittite periods. Islamic architecture, like the 16th century Ulu Cami (“Great Mosque”) and a 15th century house complex, is also visible in the city.

Northeast of Adana you can visit Karatepe-Aslantas National Park. Several Hittite orthostats can be seen. One is especially interesting with its bilingual inscriptions in Hittite and Phoenician, which helped to decipher the Hittite language.

West of Adana, towards Silifke, are the ancient Kanytelis (Kanlidivane) and Elaiussa Sebaste where most of the ruins are Hellenistic and Roman although Hittite foundations can be seen.

The village of Uzuncaburc (ancient Olba Diocaeseria) is situated about 3000 feet above sea level in the Taurus Mountains. The Hellenistic tower gave the village its name, Uzuncaburc meaning “high tower”. Nomads can be seen on summer days grazing their goats. The founder of the city, according to the historian Strabo, was Ajax, the half brother Ajax of the Iliad. At the beginning of 2nd century B.C., the priests of the temple of Zeus at Olba became the rulers of this region. These ruler-priests were called Teukrides.

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