May 13 - Roaming Roman Roads -Tarsus

Today we traveled to the city of Tarsus in the region of Cilicia which lies about half way between Adana and Mersin.  Tarsus is well know for being the native home of the apostle Paul (Acts 21:39).  Orhan explained that Adana is the fourth largest city in Turkey with a population of about 2.2 million.  I think most of them passed by the road in front of our hotel last night. It is a very busy city, and has a very large population of Kurds.  Kurds and Turks have lived together for 1000 years peacefully, but now a group of Kurds is trying to separate. The city is somewhat disorganized and has a large number of immigrants which sell fruit and food on the street.  Orhan counted about 200 when he walked around last night.  The suburbs are lovely and quite affluent.  The second richest man in Turkey (Sabanaci) is from Adana.  We learned later he built the largest mosque in Turkey which is in the center of town and dedicated it to his mother. The local economy is mostly based on farming. It is the fifth largest producer of cotton.  Yesterday,  we saw oranges, pomegranates, vineyards, corn, sunflowers and many other orchards. The climate is subtropical and the soil is rich and very dark.  I think anything would grow here. 

It also has a very large textile, industrial manufacturing and assembly region. There is a Mercedes plant here, and oh, our bus is a Mercedes! Because of the wealth of the town, they have 6 professional sports teams (state not individually owned in Turkey). 

Now that you've had your regional lesson for the day, let me take you on a journey back in time.  Before we made it to the city of Tarsus, we took a small road and headed slightly north of town.  High atop a hill was an ancient Roman road thought to have been built in the first century AD.  The road may have been a passageway from Cilicia to Cappadocia, but only about 1.9 miles have been uncovered.  

                   At the entrance is a majestic gate that has been reconstructed.  

Trena and Ed stroll romantically down the road.  

It is likely that Paul passed along this way on his journeys.  He didn't have a highly skilled bus driver to bring him as far as we did, so it must have been a long, hard trip.  Moustafa, has navigated unbelievable passages, steep, curvy hills, and tiny dirt roads on this trip.  He will have some stories to tell his friends when he gets home.  The phrase "crazy Americans" will undoubtably be used.  

Along the way we saw nomadic camps, a goat herder, beautiful small poppies, and even dung beetles, rolling balls...yes, of dung (anyone that has traveled to Egypt will appreciate this).  Some in our group walked far enough to see a Roman mile marker.  On the way back, a man working on a pipe nearby was nice enough to show us a tiny snake. Yuck! 

We finally arrived to explore the city streets of Tarsus.  Amoung the was another Roman road.  

This one, discovered in 1993, is unusual in that it is made of basalt stone with white stone trim. I've never seen one like this.  

We also stopped to see "Paul's well" and another underground structure protected by glass.  As we drove out of town we stopped at at Paul's Gate also know as Cleopatra's Gate. The sign in front of it dates it to the Byzantine era.  We also stopped at a place some believe is Daniel's burial site.  Muslims have built a mosque on the site, but there are also Roman ruins.  They revere the Old Testament prophets.  

  

Many towns name artifacts with names of well known biblical characters to encourage tourism.  Of course all we really know is that Paul is from this region, and for us, that is enough to make it a meaningful visit.  

And all of this before lunch! We stopped at a lovely restaurant/park for lunch.  There is a waterfall that is fed from snow melting from the Taurus Mountains.  Orhan says "It's not Niagara Falls," but the water was a beautiful color-almost mint green (like glacier runoff in Alaska) and the sound was full and refreshing.  We thought it was delightful. We could have stayed all afternoon.  

LaDonna found a new flavor of Magnum bar! It is filled with pistachio ice cream.  I didn't try one, but I'll be on the lookout for one soon! 

We stopped for a brief walk across an old bridge that crosses the Seyhan river for pictures of the mosque.  Arter and Janice are resting against the bridge.

The other Sharon found some boys taking target practice at balloons in the water with a BB gun and had to show them how it was done.  She may not be from Alabama, but she knows how to shoot a gun. 

After dinner, a small group headed out for a quick dessert and walk through town. We happened upon a cultural center and asked the guard what was in there.  Before we knew it, we were seated in an auditorium watching young school kids performing on stage for their parents.  They were in beautiful traditional clothing, and performed songs and skits. I have no idea what they were saying, but it was precious and a perfect end to a wonderful day.  

Children in traditional Turkish dress performing in cultural center.