Elaiussa Sebaste was an ancient city located on the eastern coast of Cilicia, now a peninsula, 55 km west of Mersin in southeastern Turkey. The Greeks established the town in the early 1st century BC, and it later became one of the most prominent centres of Eastern Rough Cilicia. Archelaus of Cappadocia (r. 36 BC-AD 17) made the city his capital and renamed it “Sebaste” in honour of his benefactor, Emperor Augustus. The town prospered after the Cilician shores were cleared of pirates in AD 74, and it became part of the Roman province of Cilicia.
During the Byzantine period, Sebaste became a Christian city, and several churches were constructed. However, when its neighbouring city, Corycus, began to thrive in the 6th century AD, Sebaste slowly declined and fell into obscurity.
Some fascinating remains can still be found on the peninsula. These include a small theatre dating back to the 2nd century AD, an agora, a large Byzantine church, a Roman bath complex, and a temple on a hill overlooking the sea outside the city.
The theatre was built in the first half of the 2nd century AD, while its final stage may be dated to the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (AD 161-169).The theatre had a capacity of about 2,300 spectators. The orchestra was originally paved with marble slabs.The scaenae frons of the theatre, built over a sturdy ashlar structure with arches and pillars.View of the Roman Agora and Christian Basilica. The agora was built in the latter part of the 2nd century AD, and a two-apse basilica occupied its interior during the latter part of the 5th century AD.The Roman agora was a vast open area with a quadrangular plan (31.60 x 32 m), bounded on all sides by a 6.85-metre-high wall in opus quadratum made of large limestone blocks.Inside the Roman agora, there was a colonnaded portico on all four sides. They were paved in opus sectile during the Christian period.During the Early Byzantine era, the interior of the agora was entirely occupied by an imposing Christian basilica oriented east-west. It was divided into a nave and two aisles by two rows of columns.The floors of the Christian basilica were decorated in opus sectile, composed of marble and limestone tiles arranged to create various geometric motifs.Excavations within the tholos (circular structure) of the Roman Agora have revealed the remains of a polychrome mosaic featuring marine motifs.Mosaic with geometric patterns and sea animals.Broken arched bridge which was part of the aqueduct that brought water to the city from the Lamas River.Elaiussa Sebaste.The Harbour Baths complex lies on the promontory’s north-western edge on the bank of the northern port basin.The Harbour Baths were built directly against the limestone rocks of the hill and therefore do not follow the traditional plan of Roman bathing complexes. They were first built in the second half of the 1st century BC and underwent great restructuring works until the 5th century AD, when the bathing function of the complex fell into disuse.In the building’s southern section, hypocausts were brought to light.The ruins of the Byzantine Palace, built in the mid-5th century AD over the Roman fortifications.The large round courtyard of the Byzantine Palace connected the two wings of the palace.The Yemişkumu aqueduct bridges (Lamas Aqueduct) near Elaiussa Sebaste. The Lamas River, to the east of the city, provided the city’s water supply. Along the route, the water channel had to cross 7 aqueduct bridges to Elaiussa Sebaste. (Source)
Source: Silifke (Seleucia on Calycadnus ) and Environs: Lost Cities of a Distant Past in Cilicia by Celal Taşkıran (Sim Matbaasi, 1993)
Kanytelis was an ancient inland town in Cilicia, established during the Hellenistic period around a large karstic sinkhole that is approximately 70 meters deep and 160 meters wide. Today, its ruins are situated in a rural area near the town of Erdemli, about 55 kilometres west of Mersin, on Turkey’s rugged eastern Mediterranean coastline.
Notable archaeological features of Kanytelis include the Hellenistic Tower of Zeus Olbios, the Armaronxas Family Relief, the Papylos Basilica, the Aba mausoleum, and the Çanakçı rock tombs. Some of the best-preserved structures are the three-aisled basilicas built by Theodosius II during his reign from AD 402 to 450, when the town became a Christian religious centre and was renamed Neapolis.
The Hellenistic tower dedicated to Zeus Olbios on behalf of the Olbian priest king Teukros, son of Tarkyares, in about 200 BC.The three-storied Hellenistic tower was built entirely of polygonal masonry. It stood on the southern edge of the sinkhole and was used as a dwelling until early Byzantine times.With its well-preserved outer walls, the three-nave Basilica A stands west of the Hellenistic tower.The only surviving nave of Basilica A.The Armaronxas Family Relief is a portrait of a family of six (the father and mother seated next to their four children) carved into the face of the sinkhole cliff in the 1st century BC. A badly eroded five-lined inscription records the name of the Armaronxas family.Kanytelis.One of the cisterns that supplied the city with water.Presses for olive oil production.The three-columned tomb in the north necropolis was built in the 3rd or 4th century AD.The Aba mausoleum is a temple-tomb built in the second half of the 2nd century AD by a noblewoman named Aba for her husband and two sons, who were probably victims of the plague.The burial chamber of the Aba mausoleum bears an inscription mentioning the name of the city of Kanytelis.A sarcophagus in the north necropolis.A sarcophagus in the north necropolis.Kanytelis.The three-nave Papylos Basilica (Basilica D) is the most recent in date (end of the 5th century AD) and is located on the northern edge of the sinkhole.The approximately 22-metre-long church Papylos Basilica was richly decorated with frescoes.The Papylos Basilica (Basilica D).Kanytelis.The Çanakçı rock tombs lie 300 m to the left of the sinkhole. The site contains a few sarcophagi and nine chamber tombs carved into a cliff. Some of these chambers have figures carved in relief above their doors, unquestionably belonging to the deceased.arThe Çanakçı rock tombs were carved around the 2nd century AD. Each tomb has a rectangular opening.The Çanakçı rock tombs: a woman, a man and a soldier holding a battle-axe.
Source: Silifke (Seleucia on Calycadnus ) and Environs: Lost Cities of a Distant Past in Cilicia by Celal Taşkıran (Sim Matbaasi, 1993)
following hadrian photography 