Prehistory This coast has been inhabited since the
9th millennium BC. Excavations by
John Garstang of the hill of
Yumuktepe have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. Fortifications were put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 350 BC and 300 BC.
Classical era Over the centuries, the city was ruled by many states and civilisations including the
Hittites,
Assyrians,
Urartians,
Persians,
Greeks,
Armenians,
Seleucids and
Lagids. During the
Ancient Greek period, the city bore the name
Zephyrion (
Greek: Ζεφύριον) and was mentioned by numerous ancient authors. Apart from its natural harbour and strategic position along the trade routes of southern
Anatolia, the city profited from trade in
molybdenum (white lead) from the neighbouring mines of Coreyra. Ancient sources attributed the best molybdenum to the city, which also minted its own coins. sculpture in
Mersin Archaeological Museum|left The area later became a part of the
Roman province of
Cilicia, which had its capital at
Tarsus, while nearby Mersin was the major port. The city, whose name was
Latinised to
Zephyrium, was renamed as
Hadrianopolis in honour of the Roman emperor
Hadrian. After the death of the emperor
Theodosius I in 395 and the subsequent permanent division of the Roman Empire, Mersin fell into what became the
Byzantine Empire. The city was an
episcopal see under the
Patriarchate of Antioch.
Le Quien names four bishops of Zephyrium: Aerius, present at the
First Council of Constantinople in 381; Zenobius, a
Nestorian, the writer of a letter protesting the removal of Bishop Meletius of
Mopsuestia by Patriarch
John of Antioch (429–441); Hypatius, present at the
Council of Chalcedon in 451; and Peter, present at the
Council in Trullo in 692. The bishopric is included in the
Catholic Church's list of
titular sees, but since the
Second Vatican Council no new
titular bishop of this Eastern see has been appointed.
Medieval period Cilicia was conquered by the
Arabs in the early 7th century, by which time it appears Mersin was a deserted site. The Arabs were followed by the Egyptian
Tulunids, then by the
Byzantines between 965 and c.1080 and then by the
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Under
Armenian Cilicia, the region of Mersin served as the powerbase for the
House of Lampron. From 1362 to 1513 the region was captured and governed by the
Ramadanid Emirate, first as a protectorate of the
Mamluk Sultanate, then as an independent state for roughly a century and then as a protectorate of the
Ottoman Empire from 1513 until 1518 when it was annexed into the
Ottoman Empire and turned into an imperial province.
Ottoman Empire During the
American Civil War, the region became a major supplier of cotton to make up for the high demand due to shortage. Railroads were extended to Mersin in 1866 from where cotton was exported by sea, and the city developed into a major trade centre. In 1909, Mersin's port hosted 645
steamships and 797,433 tons of goods. Before
World War I, Mersin exported mainly
sesame seeds, cotton,
cottonseed, cakes and cereals, and livestock. Cotton was exported to Europe, grain to Turkey and livestock to
Egypt. Coal was the main import into Mersin at this time.
Messageries Maritimes was the largest shipping line to use the port at Mersin. In 1918, the
Ottoman Empire collapsed and Mersin was occupied by French and British troops in accordance with the
Treaty of Sèvres. It was recovered by the
Turkish Army in 1921 at the end of the
Franco-Turkish War. In 1924, Mersin was made a province, and in 1933 Mersin and İçel provinces were merged to form the (greater Mersin) İçel Province. The capital of the province was Mersin. In 2002 the name of the province was changed to Mersin Province. As of 1920, Mersin had five piers at its port, with one privately owned by a railroad company serving Mersin,
Tarsus, and
Adana.
Modern Mersin Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast. It has the longest seashore in Turkey as well as in the
Eastern Mediterranean. The Metropolitan Municipality has rescued long stretches of the seafront with walkways, parks and statues, and there are still palm trees on the roadsides. Since the start of the
Syrian War in 2011 Mersin has acquired a large population of Syrian refugees. On 6 February 2023 Mersin was shaken by the twin
Turkish-Syrian earthquakes. Citizens made homeless in cities further to the east also flocked to Mersin in search of shelter. The urban population of the city is 1,084,789 (Mezitli, Yenisehir, Toroslar, Akdeniz), with a metropolitan population of 1,954,279. == Local attractions ==