Iskenderun

Geography

Iskenderun is located on the Mediterranean coast on the eponymous Gulf of İskenderun at the foot of the Nur Mountains (Amanos Mountains).

Iskenderun is a busy commercial centre, with 200,000 people the largest city in Hatay, surpassing the Hatay provincial seat of Antakya. The city is one of Turkey’s largest ports on the Mediterranean and an important industrial centre home to the Russian-built İsdemir compound, one of Turkey’s largest steelworks. Iskenderun has a cosmopolitan populace speaking both Turkish and Arabic, and an active, modern life with good hotels, restaurants and cafes along the palm-lined sea front, and there is a variety of accommodation for visitors. Iskenderun is also an important naval training base. There is a small Suryani Christian community in the city.

The climate on this stretch of the Mediterranean is very, very hot and humid in summer, when people escape to the countryside or to the beach. At certain times of the year the town is swept by the strong wind called ‘yarık kaya’. The countryside contains large areas of fruit groves, important producers of oranges, tangerines and lemons, and even tropical dishes such as mangoes.

Cuisine

The cuisine of Iskenderun is delicious, especially Künefe, a hot dessert with cheese. The main dishes include the Turkish staples such as döner and other kebabs served in the flat durum bread, lahmacun, and also the Arab-Levantine cuisine of Antakya including kibbeh, and pomegranate syrup used as a salad dressing. Iskenderun in particular offers good quality fish and prawns.

History

Antiquity

İskenderun preserves the name, but probably not the exact site, of Alexandria ad Issum, founded to supersede Myriandrus as the key of the Syrian Gates by Alexander the Great in 333 BC, about 23 miles south of the scene of his victory at the Battle of Issos. The importance of the place ever since has derived from its relation to this pass, the easiest approach to the open ground of Hatay and of Northern Syria, and the Romans continued to fight with Persia for control of this area during their era of dominance.

Since his army has been located at the high-lands of Iskenderun, around Esentepe, Alexander the Great has faced the nature and beauty of the location. Just after this, city has been established with the order of Alexander the Great and named as "Alexandrette". Iskenderun is one of the other cities that have been setup by his order, like Alexandria.

The Ottomans

The area was still a scene of fighting under the Ottomans, as it was here in 1606 that the army of general Kuyucu Murat Pasha suppressed the rural uprising of Celali Canbulatoğlu. The Ottomans continued to fortify the city and the remains of early 17th century Ottoman castle walls can still be seen, (where the Güzün stream crosses the Varyant road). The next army to cross the Pass of Belen and attack Anatolia though here were the Egyptians of Muhammad Ali in 1832.

However in the later Ottoman period the city grew and grew as the main outlet for the overland trade from Baghdad and India, which had great importance until the establishment of the Egyptian overland route. Iskenderun served as a base first of Genoese and Venetian merchants, then West and North European merchants. The British Levant Company maintained an agency and factory here for 200 years, until 1825, in spite of appalling mortality among its employees. During the 19th century the port grew, the railway was built in 1912, and the road to Aleppo was improved.

The Republic of Hatay

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War most of Hatay including Iskenderun was occupied by French troops and in 1921 was established as the autonomous Sanjak of Alexandretta within French-controlled Syria. This led to the foundation of the Republic of Hatay and the areas absorption into the Republic of Turkey in 1939.

Places of interest

• Arsuz(Uluçınar), holiday town on the coast to the south of Iskenderun, with beautiful sandy beaches, a very warm sea, and places of historical interest. The coast is lined with holiday homes and there is accommodation in hotels or guest houses.
• Soğukoluk, mountain resort on the way to Antakya a quiet retreat from the heat of the coast in summer months.
• Bakras – The castle was built in antiquity and much restored since, a watchtower on the mountain road, 27 km from Iskenderun on the road to Antakya.
• Yakacik (Payas) – contains a splendid example of Ottoman architecture dating back to the 16th century; the Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Complex comprising a mosque, bath, bazaar, caravanserai, and madrasa. 22km from Iskenderun on the road to Adana.

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