Where to Stay in Tarsus, Mersin

What is Tarsus known for?

Tarsus is known above all as the birthplace of Saint Paul the Apostle, an old city on the Çukurova. The past lies deep beneath this old Cilician city. Spread across the Cilician Plains of Mediterranean Turkey near the coast at Mersin, Tarsus keeps its antiquities among a modern industrial town, from Saint Paul's Church to the layered mound of Gözlükule that marks its long past.

What are the main landmarks in Tarsus?

Tarsus holds landmarks that reach from the age of Saint Paul the Apostle back to prehistory. Gözlükule anchors the deep past. Its layered mound records settlement on the Çukurova across the ages, while Saint Paul's Church marks the apostle's birthplace, the Tarsus Museum gathers the finds of the plains, the Mausoleum of Danyal and the ancient Donukltaş stand among the old streets, and each carries a piece of the long story.

What is the history of Tarsus?

Tarsus carries one of the oldest stories on the Çukurova, its mound of Gözlükule recording settlement from prehistory onward. The layers run deep. Gözlükule holds a long sequence of habitation on the Cilician Plains, its stacked levels tracing farmers and traders from the earliest ages through the classical world, when Tarsus rose as a city of trade and learning on the coastal plain.

The city became famous as the birthplace of Saint Paul the Apostle, and Saint Paul's Church keeps that memory in the old core. Tarsus passed through Greek, Roman, and later Ottoman hands across the centuries, and the antiquities of those ages survive among its streets, from the Mausoleum of Danyal to the ancient Donukltaş. The Tarsus Museum gathers the finds of that layered past.

The modern industrial town grew up around the antiquities, and the old mound of Gözlükule still watches over the plain that carried the city through the ages.

Where is Tarsus?

Tarsus lies on the Çukurova of Mediterranean Turkey, spread across the flat Cilician Plains a short way inland from the coast. The setting is low and open. The old core with Saint Paul's Church and the mound of Gözlükule sits at the heart, the modern town spreads over the surrounding farmland, and the plain reaches west toward the coast and the neighbouring city of Mersin.

What is the climate of Tarsus?

Tarsus has a hot Mediterranean climate across the Çukurova. Long, hot summers press over the Çukurova plain. Long hot summers press over the flat plain around Gözlükule while winters stay mild and wet on the Cilician Plains, and the warm coastal air keeps hard frost away through the year, so the farmland of the plain stays green in the cooler months.

How do you get to Tarsus?

Tarsus is reached by air, rail, and road across the Çukurova, close to the coast of Mediterranean Turkey. Most reach Tarsus overland, by the coastal highway or the rail line. The regional airport lies nearby while the coastal highway and rail line run west toward Mersin and east across the Cilician Plains, linking Tarsus through the wider conurbation of the plain.