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All images © by Roberto Piperno, owner of the domain. Write to romapip@quipo.it. Text edited by Rosamie Moore.

Coast of the Pirates Silifke

Silifke is a very ancient town, founded by Seleucus, a general of Alexander the Great, and it was named after him Seleucia. As there were several towns with this name (e.g. Seleucia Pieria), a reference was added to its river, so it was called Seleucia ad Calicadnus. The town is located a few miles from the sea, but in the past the river allowed the ships to reach it.

Silifke Kalesi

Similar to many other towns of the ancient world, Seleucia was split into two populated areas: the upper town on a fortified hill (acropolis) and a lower town along the river. The fortress of Seleucia which we see today is mainly a Byzantine fortress, with a couple of round towers added by the Ottomans. The view over the coastal plain and the sea rewards the effort made to reach there.

Inscriptions

A walk along the walls leads to two inscriptions in Armenian, as this area was for some time in the XIIIth century a part of the (Christian) Kingdom of Lesser Armenia.

Cistern

Seleucia had a very effective water supply system based on a large cistern at the bottom of the acropolis. Pipes led the water to the fountains of the lower town. The picture here below shows the winding staircase cut into the rock.

Steps

Ancient Seleucia had several temples, but only one of them is left and only one column is not broken. The temple was dedicated to Jupiter, but today it is commonly referred to as the Temple of the storks.

Temple

During the Third Crusade, the German Emperor Frederick I, Barbarossa led his army to the East by land. On June 10, 1190, at the age of 67, he drowned while crossing the river Calicadno which after heavy rains has a rather strong current. Today a bridge built on the old Roman bridge allows a safe crossing.

Bridge



See the other fortresses of the Coast of the Pirates:
Alanya
Mamure Kalesi
Korykos and Kizkalesi