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Information about
Adana,
Turkey
Adana Sabanci Mosque
Adana is situated
in the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey and is
the fourth largest city of Turkey. The city is
located on the Cukurova Plain, which is the most
fertile agricultural area of the whole country, and
is watered by the Seyhan River.
The history of Adana goes back more than 3000 years
and finds in the region show human occupation of the
area during the Paleolithic Age. Tepebag Tumulus,
where archaeologists found a stone wall and a city
center, was built in the Neolithic Age and is
considered to be the oldest city of the Cilicia
region.
Adana is mentioned by name in the Sumerian “Epic of
Gilgamesh” which tells of the great flood, and
according to Hittite inscriptions found in Hattusas,
Kizzuwatna was the first kingdom to rule Adana. At
that time the name of the city was Uru Adaniyya and
the inhabitants were called “Danuna. The name of the
city is believed to have come from a legend that
Adanus and Sarus, two sons of Uranus, came to a
place near the Seyhan River where they built Adana
but Adana's name has had many different versions
over the centuries: Adanos, Ta Adana, Uru Adaniya,
Erdene, Edene, Ezene, Batana, Atana, Azana and
Addane.
After the collapse of the Hittite Empire, invasions
from the west caused a number of small kingdoms to
take control of the plain, as follows: Kue
Assyrians, 9th century BC; Cilician Kingdom,
Persians, 6th century BC; Alexander the Great in 333
BC; Seleucids; and the pirates of Cilicia and later
the Roman statesman Pompey, when the city was used
as a prison for Cilician pirates. Adana remained a
waystation on the Roman military for centuries
later.
In the mid 7th century, the city was captured by the
Arab Abbasids. The Byzantines recaptured Adana in
964. After the victory of Alp Arslan at the Battle
of Manzikert, the Seljuk Turks overran much of the
Byzantine Empire. They had reached and captured
Adana sometime before 1071 and continued to hold the
place until Tancred, a leader of the First Crusade,
captured the city in 1097. In 1132, it was captured
by the forces of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia,
under its king, Leo I. It was taken by Byzantine
forces in 1137, but the Armenians regained it around
1170. Adana remained a part of the Kingdom of
Cilician Armenia until around 1360, when the city
was ceded by Constantine III to the Mamluk Sultan of
Egypt in return for obtaining a peace treaty. The
Mamluks' capture of the city allowed many Turkish
families to settle in it. The Ramazanoğlu family,
one of the Turkish families brought by the Mamluks,
ruled Adana until the Ottomans captured the city.
From the end of the Renaissance to the modern era
(1517–1918), the Ottoman Empire ruled the area.
Places to visit in Adana, Turkey
You can see the 16thcentury Great Mosque (Ulu Camii),
the Yag or Eski Mosque, the Hasan Aga Mosque, Saat
Kulesi (the clock-tower) built in 1882 and an old
covered bazaar (Arasta) Do not miss the Adana
Ethnographical Museum where Turkish carpets, swords,
manuscript books and tombstones are exhibited. The
building itself is interesting as well since it was
built as a church by the Crusaders. The Adana
Archaeological Museum merits visiting too. Adana is
also famous for its delicious Adana Kebap. The tea
houses and restaurants alongside the Seyhan Dam and
Lake provide a cool and perfect view of the city and
the river at sunsets.
Other places to visit around Adana include:
Yumurtalik (84 kms from Adana) and Karatas (50 kms
from Adana) are the nearest beaches with
accommodation. In Yumurtalik there is an ancient
harbour castle contributing much to this pretty
fishing city. For fishing, there is Camlik Park 30
kms southwest of Adana.
There are some ancient cities on the road to
Iskenderun which include Roman remnants. Misis is on
the caravan route that came from China, India and
Persia. Among the remains of Roman times, the most
interesting is the elegant mosaic of the 4th century
A.D representing Noah's Ark. Yilanlikale has the
ruins of a fortress set atop a peak dominating the
River Ceyhan. Dilekkaya, the ancient Anavarza, was
an important Roman - Byzantine city which still
preserves the outline of the old city including two
particularly worthwhile mosaics. Karatepe National
Park is the neoHittite site where you will find the
remains of the summer residence of King Asitawada,
tablets of Hittite and Phoenician inscriptions, and
an open air museum holding many remnants.
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