Түркиядағы ежелгі Тарс қаласы

City in Turkey

With a history going back over 6,000 years, Tarsus has long been an important stop for traders and a focal point of many civilisations. During the Roman Empire, it was the capital of the province of Cilicia. It was the scene of the first meeting between Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. Tarsus is served by Adana Şakirpaşa Airport and is connected by Turkish State Railways to both Adana and Mersin.

The ancient name Tarsos is derived from Tarsa, the original name given to the city by the Hittites, who were among the earliest settlers of the region. That in turn was possibly derived from the name of the storm god Tarḫunz. During the Hellenistic era Tarsus was known as Antiochia on the Cydnus (Αντιόχεια του Κύδνου, Antiochia ad Cydnum), to distinguish it from Syrian Antioch. The Romans knew it as Juliopolis, while it was Darson in Western Armenian and Tarson in Eastern Armenian. According to the Suda, the city was founded by Perseus after he fought the Isaurians and the Cilicians. An oracle told him to found a city in the place where the flat (ταρσός) of his foot would touch the earth while he was dismounting from his horse after the victory.

Located on the mouth of the Berdan River (Cydnus in antiquity), which empties into the Mediterranean, Tarsus sits at a junction where land and sea routes connecting the Cilician plain (today called Çukurova), central Anatolia and the Mediterranean Sea meet. The climate is typical of the Mediterranean region, with very hot, humid summers and chilly, damp winters. Tarsus has a long history of commerce, and is still a commercial centre today, trading in the produce of the fertile Çukurova plain. Tarsus is also a thriving industrial centre for refining and processing for export. Industries include agricultural machinery, spare parts, textiles, fruit processing, brick making and ceramics. Agriculture is an important source of income with half the local land area farmland and most of the remainder forest or orchard. The farmland is mostly well irrigated, fertilised and managed with up to date equipment.

In historical times, the city was first ruled by the Hittites, followed by Assyria, and then by the Persian Empire. As the principal town of Cilicia, Tarsus was the seat of a Persian satrapy from 400 BC onward. Indeed, Xenophon records that in 401 BC, when Cyrus the Younger marched against Babylon, the city was governed by King Syennesis in the name of the Persian monarch. At this period the god of the city was Sandon, of whom a large monument existed at Tarsus at least until the 3rd century AD. Coins showed Sandon standing on a winged and horned lion, and it is now thought likely that the Lion of Saint Mark on the pillar in the Piazza San Marco in Venice was in origin a winged lion griffin copied from such a monument in Tarsus. Alexander the Great passed through with his army in 333 BC and nearly met his death here after bathing in the Cydnus. By this time Tarsus was already largely influenced by Greek language and culture, and as part of the Seleucid Empire it became more and more Hellenised. Strabo praised the cultural level of Tarsus in this period with its philosophers, poets and linguists. The schools of Tarsus rivalled those of Athens and Alexandria. A reference in the Bible (2 Maccabees (4:30)) records the city's revolt against Antiochus IV Epiphanes in about 171 BC The king had renamed the town Antiochia on the Cydnus although the name did not stick due because too many cities were named Antioch. At this time the library of Tarsus held 200,000 books, including a huge collection of scientific works.

After crushing the feared Cilician pirates, Pompey brought Tarsus under Roman rule In 67 BC, and it became the capital of the Roman province of Cilicia. To flatter Julius Caesar, it was briefly named Juliopolis. Cassius Longinus planned to kill him here as early as 47 BC, and Cleopatra and Mark Antony met and was the scene of the celebrated feasts they gave during the construction of their fleet (41 BC). In William Shakespeare's 1606 play Antony and Cleopatra (Act 5, Scene 2) Cleopatra says she is going to Cydnus to meet Antony after his death, (i. e. she will commit suicide to meet him in the afterlife). "Go fetch / My best attires: I am again for Cydnus, / To meet Mark Antony." In the Roman period, the city was an important intellectual centre, boasting its own academy. One of its leading lights, the philosopher Athenodorus Cananites, was the tutor of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, a fact which secured continuous imperial patronage for the city.

The distinctive local cuisine includes chargrilled chicken, hummus (sometimes heated and served with pastırma), şalgam, tantuni, miniature lahmacun called "fındık lahmacun", and cezerye, a dessert made from carrots.

Tarsus has two football stadiums, Tarsus City Stadium and Burhanettin Kocamaz Stadium, and an arena, Tarsus Arena. The local football club is Tarsus Idman Yurdu.