Payas (; ; ) is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Hatay Province Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province ...

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 ...

. Its area is 157 km², and its population is 43,919 (2022). The district Payas was created in 2013 from part of the district of

Dörtyol Dörtyol is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 342 km2, and its population is 128,941 (2022). It is a port city and oil terminus located 26 km north of the city of İskenderun, near the easternmost point of th ...

Geography

Payas is a Mediterranean coastal town. Distance to

at the north is , to

İskenderun İskenderun (), historically known as Alexandretta (, ) and Scanderoon, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 247 km2, and its population is 251,682 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coas ...

at the south is and to

Antakya Antakya (), Turkish form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is . Prior to the devastating 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded ...

(the province center) is .

History

Payas and its vicinity have been inhabited throughout history. Ancient names of the town were Baias and Bayyas. During the

Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 The Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, also called the Last Great War of Antiquity, was fought between the Byzantine Empire and the Sasanian Empire. It was the final and most devastating conflict of the Roman–Persian wars (54 BCAD&n ...

, Payas was one of the theaters of war between

Heraclius Heraclius (; 11 February 641) was Byzantine emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exarch of Africa, led a revolt against the unpopular emperor Phocas. Heraclius's reign was ...

and

Khosrow II Khosrow II (spelled Chosroes II in classical sources; and ''Khosrau''), commonly known as Khosrow Parviz (New Persian: , "Khosrow the Victorious"), is considered to be the last great Sasanian King of Kings (Shahanshah) of Iran, ruling from 590 ...

. In the second half of the 7th century, Payas became a part of the rising Arabic Empire.

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

annexed Payas towards the end of the 11th century. The town was contested between the Turks and the Byzantines, but was captured by the armies of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

in 1097. It became part of the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian ...

soon thereafter. In 1268, the region was captured by the

Mamluk Sultanate The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks ...

. Later, the town became a part of the

Beylik of Dulkadir The Beylik of Dulkadir () was one of the Turkish Anatolian beyliks (principality) established by the Oghuz Turk clans Bayat, Afshar, and Begdili after the decline of Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm. Etymology The meaning of Dulkadir is unclear. ...

, and a part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

after the campaign of

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

in 1517. In the 1567–68 term, Ottoman government

Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...

built a shipyard in Payas in preparation for the Cyprus campaign. After the conquest of Cyprus in 1571, the

Grand vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Sokollu Mehmed Pasha (; ; ; 1505 – 11 October 1579) was an Ottoman statesman of Serb origin most notable for being the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. Born in Ottoman Herzegovina into an Orthodox Christian family, Mehmed was recruited a ...

built a caravansarai, financing it privately. The two fortifications at Payas have been the subject of several surveys. Both are Ottoman-period constructions. Following a period of short French occupation after the First World War, Payas became a part of Turkey unlike most other parts of the Hatay Province, where French occupation continued till 1938, when the rest of Hatay was annexed by Turkey.

Composition

There are 12

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Payas District: * Çağlalık * Cumhuriyet * Fatih * İstiklal * Karacami * Karbeyaz * Karşı * Kozludere * Kürtül * Sincan * Yenişehir * Yıldırım Beyazıt

Demographics

According to travellers Carl Humann and

Otto Puchstein Otto Puchstein (6 July 1856, Labes – 9 March 1911, Berlin) was a German classical archaeologist. From 1875 to 1879 he studied philology, classical archaeology and Egyptology at the University of Strasbourg, where his instructors include ...

, during the 19th century, the town of Payas was inhabited by Turks and included 50 homes. The settlements in vicinity, though, also included Armenians but very few Alawites.

Economy

Payas was an agricultural town in the early years of the Republic of Turkey. In the 1970s Payas became an industrial town with the establishment of the İskenderun Iron and Steel Factory. Today, the iron and steel factory within Payas is Turkey's second big iron-steel factory, and it contributes to Turkey's economy in great scales as well as the organized industry zone, coal enterprises and iron-producing mills. Because of this, 70 hot iron mills were established since 1970. Mills still provide much employment for people. The city receives immigrants due to the variety of employment opportunities also. The organized industrial zone has accrued with growing industrialization, and this zone has built on 100 hectares. Consequently, there are about 1100 workplaces in Payas. Some of them are transportation companies, and 700–800 trucks transport coal and iron to big factories in a day. Livestock and agriculture areas are limited, because of developed industry and trade. And there is a local fishery in Payas; there are about 70 fishermen.

References

{{Districts of Turkey, provname=Hatay, sortkey=Payas Populated places in Hatay Province Populated coastal places in Turkey Districts of Hatay Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey