Tarsus, located in the region known as
Cilicia Pedias in Antiquity (modern south-central Turkey), was an important city during both the ancient and the medieval eras. It was the capital of
Roman province of
Cilicia. In 41 BC,
Mark Antony during his struggle against
Octavian, allied himself with
Cleopatra VII in Tarsus. Tarsus was enclosed by a pair of concentric defense walls . According to 17th century-Turkish traveler
Evliya Çelebi, there were three gates; a mountain gate to
Toros Mountains in the north, a port gate to the
Mediterranean coastline in the south and the Adana Gate to the neighbouring city of
Adana in the east. In 1835, the walls were demolished by
Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt, following the
Egyptian–Ottoman War of 1831–1833. Only the port gate survived up to the present time, albeit because of
alluvial deposits from the rivers
Berdan and
Seyhan, the coastline is currently south of the port gate. Cleopatra entered Tarsus via the port gate. The history of the gate after Cleopatra is not documented, but by analyzing the building stones and the cement, it is usually believed that the original gate was rebuilt during the
Middle Ages, either by the
Byzantine Empire or by the
Abbasids. The popular name of the gate was
Kancık Kapı (feminine gate) during the late
Ottoman period. However, from the early 20th century, the name
Cleopatra kapısı ("Cleopatra's Gate") replaced the former name. The outer height of the gate is and the inner height is . The length of the passage is . The mortar used in the original gate was khorosan mortar. The gate was used on the street up to 30 years ago, when it was put under restoration, which resulted in the partial loss of its original appearance. Gate is still treated as one of the most important points of the city. == References ==