Everything about Alexandretta totally explained
İskenderun, also
Iskenderon (formerly in
Greek Ἀλεξανδρέττα,
Alexandretta; in
Arabic الإسكندرون,
al-ʼIskandarūn), is a city and district in the province of
Hatay on the
Mediterranean coast of
Turkey.
Geography
İskenderun is located on the
Mediterranean coast on
Gulf of İskenderun at the foot of the
Nur Mountains (Amanos Mountains).
İskenderun is a busy commercial centre, the largest city in
Hatay Province, 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. İskenderun has an active, modern life with good hotels, restaurants and cafes along the palm-lined sea front, and there's a variety of accommodation for visitors. İskenderun 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 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 'Yarıkkaya'. The countryside contains large areas of fruit groves, important producers of oranges, tangerines and lemons, and even tropical fruits such as
mangoes.
Cuisine
Distinctive İskenderun dishes include
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 sour
pomegranate syrup used as a salad dressing. İskenderun 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 Issus. The importance of the place ever since has derived from its relation to this pass, the easiest approach to the open ground of
Hatay Province and of Northern
Syria, and the
Romans continued to fight with
Persia for control of this area during their era of dominance.
Alexander camped at the high-lands of İskenderun, around
Esentepe, and then ordered the city to be established and named "Alexandrette". İskenderun is one of many cities founded by Alexander's orders, including
Alexandria.
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 through 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.
Republic of Hatay
Following the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire at the end of the
First World War most of Hatay including İskenderun 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. In 1939,
Republic of Hatay joined with the Republic of Turkey, after a referendum. See
Hatay Province for a detailed history of this era.
Places of interest
- Arsuz(Uluçınar), holiday town on the coast to the south of İskenderun, with beautiful sandy beaches, a very warm sea, and places of historical interest. The coast is lined with holiday homes and there's 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, from İskenderun 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.
Cultural references
In the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jones claims the Holy Grail is in the "canyon of the crescent moon" outside of Alexandretta. Indiana explains that Alexandretta was completely demolished by the end of the first crusades and that the city is now known as Iskenderun. In the movie, the Nazis offer the sultan of Hatay precious valuables to compensate for removing the Grail from his borders. He ignores the valuables, but accepts their Rolls-Royce Phantom II. Following that, we see the Jones boys head from Berlin to İskenderun where they find the Holy Grail. However the canyon and the El Deir Temple in which they find the Grail was filmed in Petra, Jordan.
The progressive metal group Andromeda released the song "İskenderun" on their album Chimera.Further Information
Get more info on 'Alexandretta'.
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