Issus is an ancient settlement on the strategic coastal plain straddling the small Pinarus river

Pinarus River

The Pinarus River is a small mountain spring fed stream famous in antiquity as the site of the First Battle of Issus, near a small coastal village or town which was reported to straddle the stream which by similar sources, was said to run red with blood after Alexander the Great leading his elite...

 (a fast melt-water stream several metres wide) below the navigationally difficult inland mountains towering above to the east in the Turkish Province

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

 of Hatay

Hatay Province

Hatay Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast. It is bordered by Syria to the south and east and the Turkish provinces of Adana and Osmaniye to the north. The province is part of Çukurova, a geographical, economical and cultural region that covers the provinces of...

, near the border with Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. It is most notable for being the place of no less than three decisive ancient or medieval battles each called in their own era the Battle of Issus

Battle of Issus

The Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC. The invading troops, led by the young Alexander of Macedonia, defeated the army personally led by Darius III of Achaemenid Persia in the second great battle for primacy in Asia...

:

1. The Battle of Issus
   Battle of Issus
   The Battle of Issus occurred in southern Anatolia, in November 333 BC. The invading troops, led by the young Alexander of Macedonia, defeated the army personally led by Darius III of Achaemenid Persia in the second great battle for primacy in Asia...
   
    (333 BC); Alexander the Great of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia. This battle is occasionally called the First Battle of Issus, but is more generally known simply as the Battle of Issus, owing to the importance of Alexander's victory over the First Persian Empire and its impact on subsequent history of the region, including all the successor polities.
2. Battle of Issus (194)
   Battle of Issus (194)
   The Battle of Issus was the third major battle, following the Battle of Nicaea, in 194 between the forces of Emperor Septimus Severus and his rival, Pescennius Niger, part of the Year of the Five Emperors. Pescennius Niger was the Roman governor of Syria who had been acclaimed Emperor by his...
   
   , or Second Battle of Issus — between the forces of Emperor Septimus Severus and his rival, Pescennius Niger
   Pescennius Niger
   Pescennius Niger was a Roman usurper from 193 to 194 during the Year of the Five Emperors. He claimed the imperial throne in response to the murder of Pertinax and the elevation of Didius Julianus, but was defeated by a rival claimant, Septimius Severus and killed while attempting to flee from...
   
   .
3. Battle of Issus (622)
   Battle of Issus (622)
   The Battle of Issus, also known as the Third Battle of Issus, was the battle fought between the Eastern Roman Emperor Heraclius and the Sassanid Empire at the strategic ground near the small riverine town of Issus below the difficult inland mountains in 622, now in the Turkish Province of Hatay...
   
   , or Third Battle of Issus — between the Byzantine Empire
   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...
   
     and the Sassanid Persian Empire
   Sassanid Empire
   The Sassanid Empire , known to its inhabitants as Ērānshahr and Ērān in Middle Persian and resulting in the New Persian terms Iranshahr and Iran , was the last pre-Islamic Persian Empire, ruled by the Sasanian Dynasty from 224 to 651...
   
   . That the Byzantines would triumph in this battle was allegedly prophesied by Mohammed.

Whether Issus is still present within a modern settlement is hotly debated among researchers. Regardless of which mountain brook was the locus of the battles, the old town was situated close to present-day İskenderun

Iskenderun

İskenderun is a city and urban district in the province of Hatay on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The current mayor is Yusuf Hamit Civelek .-Names:...

, Turkey, in the Gulf of İskenderun

Gulf of Iskenderun

The Gulf of İskenderun is a gulf or inlet of the Levantine Sea, the easternmost part of Mediterranean Sea, of which it forms the easternmost tip, on the southern coast of Turkey near its border with Syria. It also contains the northernmost point of the Levantine Sea...

. Today, no town exists on both sides of the Pinarus river, which may or may not have been called Issus.