Cleopatra's Gate is a city gate of Tarsus, in

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, named after the Egyptian ( Ptolemaic) queen

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

History of Tarsus and its walls

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 Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

. In 41 BC,

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman people, Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the Crisis of the Roman Republic, transformation of the Roman Republic ...

during his struggle against

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

, allied himself with

in Tarsus. Tarsus was enclosed by a pair of concentric defense walls . According to 17th century-Turkish traveler

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

, there were three gates; a mountain gate to Toros Mountains in the north, a port gate to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coastline in the south and the Adana Gate to the neighbouring city of

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, either by the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

or by the

Abbasids The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes i ...

. 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.Newspaper article
Gate is still treated as one of the most important points of the city.

References

{{Coord, 36, 54, 46.9, N, 34, 53, 31.4, E, type:landmark_region:TR_dim:22, display=title City gates Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey