Anamur
Encyclopedia
Anamur is a town and district of the province of Mersin
, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey
, between Antalya
and the city of Mersin
.
Anamur is Turkey's southernmost point, a coastal resort famous for its banana
s and peanut
s.
"Anemourion" (Ανεμούριον) meaning "windmill
".
. During the Hittite period in the twelfth century B.C., the ruler Tuthalia IV, granted Anemorium to Mattuvata who had taken refuge in his kingdom. Mattuvata took advantage of the Hittites’ weakness, establishing his own kingdom with Anemorium as its capital. His rule extended as far as Afyon, in central Anatolia
.At the end of the 12th century the area was occupied by a nomadic tribe that had come from across the Caucasus
mountains.The tribe was called by the ancient Greeks the "Wind people" (Ανέμου γένος) after whom the city was named.The exact reasons behind this name are lost in time.The most probable explanation however, is that they worshiped a god of wind,perhaps similar to the Greek Aeolus
, as their main deity. Then the city came under the control of the Phoenicians again, and later Persians. In 333 BC Alexander the Great brought this coast within his Macedonian Empire, and he was succeeded by Seleucids and then Ancient Romans. The coast was given by Mark Anthony
to Cleopatra as a wedding present and Roman coins have been discovered in the course of excavation, dating to the years between Emperors Titus (A.D. 79-81) and Valevianus (A.D. 253–259).
The Romans were succeeded by the Byzantines
.
The city was first occupied by an Islam
ic Army in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Turkish people
reached the city in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In the thirteenth century, the Karamanids, a clan in Central Anatolia, expanded their borders towards the city, building the Alaköprü bridge (which can still be seen on the road to Ankara
) and conquering the city in 1230 from Cilicia Armenians
.
which have long, hot and dry summers with cool, rainy winters.
(known locally as gölevez).
Although there are places of historical interest, long beaches and a clean sea there is no large scale tourism on this part of the coast as the coast road in both directions is winding and really slow to drive, and the road over the mountains into central Turkey is even worse; it takes 5 hours to get here by bus from either Mersin
or Antalya
. Gazipasa Airport (near Alanya) will not be opened for charter flights. It is too dangerous to land or to take off due to heavy winds and high mountains blocking the airstrip. The nearest airports are in Antalya or in Adana. So although some people from central Anatolia
as well as foreigners from Europe (Germans/Austrians/Dutch) have holiday homes here. Anamur itself is a quiet isolated town with no night life, and in winter is very quiet indeed. Anamur Iskele is the beach resort of this area. A lot of holiday flats and villa's are situated near the beach or more inland. Plenty of small and some bigger hotels offer good quality as well as the restaurants near the small boulevard. The beaches are important nesting grounds for the sea turtle caretta caretta and the rocky areas of coastline are inhabited by the Mediterranean Monk Seal
. The military have a base here, on the coast. The island of Cyprus
is a way offshore and there are no sea crossings to Kyrenia
/Girne anymore. The Tasucu Ferryboat companies blocked it. Now you can only go from Tasucu
with Fergun Company. Every day there are several crossings to Girne. The fast Deniz Otobusu at 11.30 hours (2,5 hours crossing) and the slow ferryboat (takes also cars) at 24.00 hours (7 hours crossing). Tasucu
is 3 hours east from Anamur.The silhouette of the island of Cyprus is visible if there is no fog on the sea. It is just 40 miles away from Anamur.
Mersin Province
The Mersin Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul...
, on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, between Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
and the city of Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
.
Anamur is Turkey's southernmost point, a coastal resort famous for its banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
s and peanut
Peanut
The peanut, or groundnut , is a species in the legume or "bean" family , so it is not a nut. The peanut was probably first cultivated in the valleys of Peru. It is an annual herbaceous plant growing tall...
s.
Etymology
Anamur has mutated from the GreekGreek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
"Anemourion" (Ανεμούριον) meaning "windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
".
History
Founded by the Phoenicians, the city was then occupied by the Assyrians and HittitesHittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
. During the Hittite period in the twelfth century B.C., the ruler Tuthalia IV, granted Anemorium to Mattuvata who had taken refuge in his kingdom. Mattuvata took advantage of the Hittites’ weakness, establishing his own kingdom with Anemorium as its capital. His rule extended as far as Afyon, in central Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.At the end of the 12th century the area was occupied by a nomadic tribe that had come from across the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
mountains.The tribe was called by the ancient Greeks the "Wind people" (Ανέμου γένος) after whom the city was named.The exact reasons behind this name are lost in time.The most probable explanation however, is that they worshiped a god of wind,perhaps similar to the Greek Aeolus
Aeolus
Aeolus was the ruler of the winds in Greek mythology. In fact this name was shared by three mythic characters. These three personages are often difficult to tell apart, and even the ancient mythographers appear to have been perplexed about which Aeolus was which...
, as their main deity. Then the city came under the control of the Phoenicians again, and later Persians. In 333 BC Alexander the Great brought this coast within his Macedonian Empire, and he was succeeded by Seleucids and then Ancient Romans. The coast was given by Mark Anthony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
to Cleopatra as a wedding present and Roman coins have been discovered in the course of excavation, dating to the years between Emperors Titus (A.D. 79-81) and Valevianus (A.D. 253–259).
The Romans were succeeded by the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
.
The city was first occupied by an Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic Army in the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab. Turkish people
Turkish people
Turkish people, also known as the "Turks" , are an ethnic group primarily living in Turkey and in the former lands of the Ottoman Empire where Turkish minorities had been established in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Macedonia, and Romania...
reached the city in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. In the thirteenth century, the Karamanids, a clan in Central Anatolia, expanded their borders towards the city, building the Alaköprü bridge (which can still be seen on the road to Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
) and conquering the city in 1230 from Cilicia Armenians
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , also known as the Cilician Armenia, Kingdom of Cilician Armenia or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...
.
Climate
Anamur has a Mediterranean climateMediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
which have long, hot and dry summers with cool, rainy winters.
Anamur today
The local economy depends on agriculture, especially bananas and strawberries. The weather here is very, very hot and this is the only part of Turkey that can sustain bananas, there are banana plants everywhere and now other tropical fruits such as papaya, pineapples and avocados are being planted here too. Anamur produces 40% of Turkey's strawberries. A traditional local speciality is taroTaro
Taro is a common name for the corms and tubers of several plants in the family Araceae . Of these, Colocasia esculenta is the most widely cultivated, and is the subject of this article. More specifically, this article describes the 'dasheen' form of taro; another variety is called eddoe.Taro is...
(known locally as gölevez).
Although there are places of historical interest, long beaches and a clean sea there is no large scale tourism on this part of the coast as the coast road in both directions is winding and really slow to drive, and the road over the mountains into central Turkey is even worse; it takes 5 hours to get here by bus from either Mersin
Mersin
-Mersin today:Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with Turkey's second tallest skyscraper , huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban...
or Antalya
Antalya
Antalya is a city on the Mediterranean coast of southwestern Turkey. With a population 1,001,318 as of 2010. It is the eighth most populous city in Turkey and country's biggest international sea resort.- History :...
. Gazipasa Airport (near Alanya) will not be opened for charter flights. It is too dangerous to land or to take off due to heavy winds and high mountains blocking the airstrip. The nearest airports are in Antalya or in Adana. So although some people from central Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
as well as foreigners from Europe (Germans/Austrians/Dutch) have holiday homes here. Anamur itself is a quiet isolated town with no night life, and in winter is very quiet indeed. Anamur Iskele is the beach resort of this area. A lot of holiday flats and villa's are situated near the beach or more inland. Plenty of small and some bigger hotels offer good quality as well as the restaurants near the small boulevard. The beaches are important nesting grounds for the sea turtle caretta caretta and the rocky areas of coastline are inhabited by the Mediterranean Monk Seal
Mediterranean Monk Seal
The Mediterranean monk seal is a pinniped belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450-510 remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped , and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic...
. The military have a base here, on the coast. The island of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
is a way offshore and there are no sea crossings to Kyrenia
Kyrenia
Kyrenia is a town on the northern coast of Cyprus, noted for its historic harbour and castle. Internationally recognised as part of the Republic of Cyprus, Kyrenia has been under Turkish control since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974...
/Girne anymore. The Tasucu Ferryboat companies blocked it. Now you can only go from Tasucu
Tasucu
Taşucu is a small town of Silifke, Mersin, Turkey. About 10-11,000 people live in Taşucu but this number increases to about 20,000 by the tourists in summer. Taşucu has got a nice blue sea and green forest...
with Fergun Company. Every day there are several crossings to Girne. The fast Deniz Otobusu at 11.30 hours (2,5 hours crossing) and the slow ferryboat (takes also cars) at 24.00 hours (7 hours crossing). Tasucu
Tasucu
Taşucu is a small town of Silifke, Mersin, Turkey. About 10-11,000 people live in Taşucu but this number increases to about 20,000 by the tourists in summer. Taşucu has got a nice blue sea and green forest...
is 3 hours east from Anamur.The silhouette of the island of Cyprus is visible if there is no fog on the sea. It is just 40 miles away from Anamur.
Sites to visit
- Mamure CastleMamure CastleMamure Castle is a medieval castle in the Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey.- Geography :The castle is at the Mediterranean Sea side at about . It is on the D400 highway, east of Anamur and west of Mersin.- History :...
, the medieval castle , well-preserved, about 7 km (4 mi) south east of Anamur. Originally built by the Romans in the third or fourth century AD, it was enlarged by the Byzantine Empire and the CrusadersCrusadersThe Crusaders are a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Christchurch that competes in the Super Rugby competition. They are the most successful team in Super Rugby history with seven titles...
. After the Seljuk Turkish Sultan `Ala' ad-Din Kay-Qubad captured the castle in 1221, he had it rebuilt in its present form. It consists of three courtyards with 39 towers, surrounded by a moat. In one courtyard there is an ancient mosque with a minaret – built by Mahmud Bey of Karaman in 1300-1308 – which is still open for prayer. There are the ruins of a bathhouse on the opposite side. The castle is in two sections with two lines of ramparts between them, a walkway along the ramparts links the two sides. - AnemuriumAnemuriumAnemurium, in modern Turkish Anamur, is a major city of the Roman province of Rough Cilicia, and Roman Catholic titular see in the former Roman province....
, the remains of the ancient city, built between c. 100 BC and AD 600 6 km (4 mi) southwest of Anamur, on the coast. The stone walls of the city are still partly intact and there are many mosaics. The small theatre or odeion is still largely intact across from the more poorly preserved large theatre and there are several bath buildings. Enough left of the city’s two-storey Roman bathhouse to give a good impression of what it was in its heyday, with changing rooms, a hot section, a warm section, and a hall with a pool. On the entrance gate a sign written Latin says “Welcome to the baths, have a good bath.” The city had an elaborate water supply system, as illustrated by the remains of the aqueducts. There is also an acropolis containing the ruins of a palace, which had its own private water supply. Around the city walls there are many Roman built tombs, which even have small entrance halls for visitors. The site has been excavated by Canadian teams from the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. - Many caves including Çukurpınar, one of the longest in the world, (1420 m) and Köşekbükü (the air is said to be treatment for asthma or malaria).
See also
- ÇarıklarÇarıklar- Geography :Çarıklar is a town within Anamur district of Mersin Province. Distance of the town center to Anamur is only . The borderline between the Anamur and Çarıklar is Dragon River at the west of Çarıklar. The coordinates of the midtown are . But it should be noted that Çarıklar is one of the...
- ÖrenÖren, Mersin- Geography :Ören at is a part of Anamur district of Mersin Province. It is one of the southernmost settlements of Anatolia. It is close to Anamur i.e., only south west of Anamur. Distance to Mersin is The population is 3986 as of 2010.- History :...
- BozdoğanBozdoğan, AnamurBozdoğan is a village in Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey. It is at the east of Anamur. The population of the village is 1889 as of 2010....
- GercebahşişGercebahşişGercebahşiş is a village in Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey. It is at the north east of Anamur.The population of the village is 1515 as of 2010....
- KaralarbahşişKaralarbahşişKaralarbahşiş is a village in Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey. It is at the north east of Anamur. The population of the village is 1232 as of 2010. .....
- Köprübaşı, Manisa
- MalaklarMalaklarMalaklar is a village in Anamur district of Mersin Province, Turkey. It is at the north east of Anamur. The population of the village is 1390 as of 2010....