Locations	Hrs.
Kartal	4
Ghebse	5
Kizderwent	9
Nicæa (Isnik)	5
Lefke	6
Vezir Khan	4
Shugshut	8
Eski Shehr	10
Seid el Ghazi	9
Kosru Pasha Khany	7
Bolawadun	12
Ak Shehr	11
Arkut Khan	7
Yorgan Ladik	12
Konia	9
Yeshil	9
Karabounar	10
Eregli	12
Pylæ Ciliciæ	29
Tarsus	12
Adana	8
Messis	6
Kastanleh	6
Kara Kepeh	2½
Karabolat	3½
Baias	2½

From Skutari, or Uskudar, the road lies along the Sea of Marmora, to
Kartal, 4 h., a small place on the edge of the gulf. The road winds along the side of the gulf, passing through Pandikhi and Tuzla, so called from its salt-works.

 

Ghebse, or Gaybaissa (Route 33), 5 h.—the ancient Lybissa, where Hannibal died ; now a Turkish town with a few Greek houses. It contains a fine mosque of white marble, and some good baths, both built by Mustafa Pasha, grand vizier to Selim I. at the time of the conquest of Egypt. The road lies parallel to the shore of the gulf, and is rich in beautiful scenery. It then descends to the village of Malsum by the water side. Here is a ferry 2 m. across, called the Dil Ferry. To the right of Ersek the river falls in cascades over the rocks; the road is excellent.

  

Kizderwent, 9 h., situated in a retired part of the valley, near the source of the river. The road enters an extensive mulberry plantation, this being one of the numerous villages in the neighbourhood that supply Brousa with the excellent silk for which it is noted in the commercial world. Vineyards, on the slopes of the hills around, furnish also a tolerable wine. Kizderwent (the pass of the girls), having the misfortune to lie upon the great road from Constantinople to Brousa, Kutaya, and Konia, is exposed to a thousand vexations from travellers. It is inhabited solely by Greeks. An hour from Kizderwent the traveller has a view of lake Ascanius, surrounded on 3 sides by woody slopes, behind which rises Olympus. To the left is a cultivated plain; and soon after appears the circuit of the ancient walls of Nicæa (Isnik), at the edge of the lake. The traveller passes through the ancient gates of Nicæa (Isnik) to the wretched Turkish town of

 

Isnik, 5 h. (See Rte. 32.) The road leaves the lake of Isnik, and soon enters a ravine which opens into a valley watered by the Sakaria, the ancient Sangarius.

Lefke, 6 h.; a neat town built of sun-baked bricks. The cultivation in this valley is as perfect as that of the most civilised parts of Europe. The road follows the valley to

 

Vezir Khan, 4 h. The road now ascends a lofty ridge of a branch of Olympus, and then enters a valley at the extremity of which is the town of

 

Shugshut, 8 h. On an adjacent hill is the tomb of Ali Othman, founder of the Ottoman dynasty. Shugshutwas bestowed upon Ertogrul, the father of Othman, by the Sultan of Konia, for his services in war, and became the capital of a small state, which included the adjacent country as far as Angora on the E., and in the opposite direction all the mountainous district lying between the valleys of the Sangarius and those of the Hermus and Mæander. From hence Othman made himself master of Nicæa and Prusa, and gradually of all Bithynia and Phrygia, and thus laid the foundations of the Turkish greatness. There is another tomb of Othman at Brousa, the most important of the places which he conquered from the Greeks. But the Turks of this part of Asia Minor assert that the monument at Brousa is a cenotaph, and that the bones of Othman were laid by the side of those of his father Ertogrul in his native town. The tomb is built like some of the handsomest and most ancient of the Turkish sepulchres at Constantinople, and is situated in the midst of a grove of cypresses and evergreen oaks. The town is said to contain 900 houses. From Shugshut we traverse some woody mountains, and then a level country. 7 or 8 m. from Eski-shehr are some Greek ruins.

 

Eski-shehr, 10 h.; situated at the foot of the hills which border the plain to the N. This place is now celebrated for its natural hot-baths. There can be little doubt that it stands upon the site of Dorylæum. The plain of Dorylæum is often mentioned by the Byzantine historians as the place of assembly of the armies of the Eastern empire in their wars against the Turks. The road lies for 5 h. over the plain, at the extremity of which are seen sepulhral chambers in the rocks, and fragments of architecture scattered about. The latter part of the journey is over low ridges.

 

Seid el Ghazi, 9 h.; a poor ruined village, bearing marks, however, of having been a place of importance.

 

To Kosru Pasha Khany by the direct route is 7 hours, but a détour may be made to see some monuments of antiquity. The road crosses an elevated heath and enters a forest of pines; then descends into a beautiful valley. “Turning to the left, after we had descended into the valley, we found it to be a small plain, about a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad, embosomed in the forest, and singularly variegated with rocks, which rise perpendicularly out of the soil, and assume the shape of ruined towers and castles. Some of these are upwards of 150 feet in height, and one or two, entirely detached from the rest, have been excavated into ancient catacombs, with doors and windows, and galleries, in such a manner that it required a near inspection to convince us that what we saw were natural rocks, and not towers and buildings. We found the chambers within to have been sepulchres, containing excavations for coffins, and niches for cinerary vases. Following the course of the valley to the S.E., we came in sight of some sepulchral chambers, excavated with more art, and having a portico with 2 columns before the door, above which a range of dentils forms a cornice. The rock which has been shaped into this singular monument rises to a height of upwards of 100 feet above the plain; and at the back, and on one of the sides, remains in its natural state. The ornamented part is about 60 feet square, surmounted by a kind of pediment, above which are 2 volutes. The figures cut upon the rock are nowhere more than an inch deep below the surface, except towards the bottom, where the excavation is much deeper, and resembles an altar. It is not impossible, however, that it may conceal the entrance into the sepulchral chamber where lie the remains of the person in whose honour this magnificent monument was formed; for in some other parts of Asia Minor, especially at Telmessus, we have examples of the wonderful ingenuity with which the ancients sometimes defended the entrance into their tombs. There can be little doubt that the monument was sepulchral; the crypts and catacombs in the excavated rocks around it prove that the valley was set apart for such purposes, to which its singularly retired position and romantic scenery, amidst these extensive forests, rendered it peculiarly well adapted.”—Leake.

The valley bears the name of Doganlu. An inscription on the rock contains the words “To King Midas.” It seems probable that the date of the monument was between 740 and 750 n.c., which was the period of the Gordian dynasty. Close by this magnificent relic of Phrygian art is a very large sepulchral chamber, with a portico of 2 columns, excavated out of the same reddish sandstone of which the great monument and other rocks are formed. The columns have a plain plinth at the top, and are surmounted by a row of dentils along the architrave. They are of a tapering form, which, together with the general proportions of the work, give it an appearance of the Doric order. A visit to this valley occasions a circuit of 9 or 10 m. more than the direct route.

Kosru Khany, 7 h. The road lies through woody valleys; many sepulchral chambers are seen in the rocks. There are appearances, too, of extensive quarries, from some of which the famous Phrygian marble, called Synnadicus or Domicitis, was probably taken. 10 m. from Bolawadun we come in sight of that town, with a lake beyond it.

Bolawadun, 12 h.; a large town situated in the plain. There are many remains of antiquity of the time of the Constantinopolitan empire lying about the streets. The road for 2 h. traverses the plain between Bolawadun and the foot of Sultan Dagh, and then a marshy tract by a long causeway. Through the middle of the marsh flows a stream. On the I. is a lake.

Ak-shehr, 11 h.; a large town at the foot of the mountains. It is surrounded by pleasant gardens, but the streets are narrow and dirty, and encumbered with ruined mosques and houses. At a small distance from the western entrance of the town is the sepulchre of Nureddin Hodja, a Turkish saint, whose tomb is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage. It is a stone monument of the usual form, surrounded by an open colonnade supporting a roof; the columns have been taken from some ancient Greek building. The burying-ground is full of remains of Greek architecture converted into Turkish tomb-stones, and furnishes ample proof of Ak-shehr having been the position of a Greek city of considerable importance. It is supposed to be Philomelium. The lake of Ak-shehr is 6 m. from the town.

Arkut Khan, 7 h. The traveller in 3 h. reaches Ilgun, a large and wretched village, with some scattered fragments of antiquity round it. The road crosses a considerable stream, falling into the lake of Ilgun, then passes Kadun-Khana, where many ancient inscriptions are to be found, and arrives at

Yorgan Ladik, 12 h.; a large place famous for its manufacture of carpets. Here are to be seen many marbles, altars, columns, friezes, cornices, &c., the remains of Laodicea, Kατακεκαυμξνn, anciently the most considerable city in this part of the country. At less than an hour's distance from the town, on the way to Konia, are a still greater number of remains of the same kind. Soon after, the road ascends a ridge, whence is a view of Konia, and the lake which occupies the centre of the plain. This lake only exists during the winter inundations. When Mr. W. J. Hamilton crossed the plain it was perfectly dry, although the effect of the mirage often made him believe that water was close by. N.E. are the lofty summits of Hassah Dagh. At the S.E. extremity of the plains is a remarkable insulated mountain, called Kara Dagh (Black Mountain). About 60 m. distant, and beyond it, are seen the summits of the Karaman range, at the distance of 90 m.

Konia (Iconium), 9 h. The circumference of the walls of Konia is between 2 and 3 m., beyond which are suburbs not much less populous than the town itself. The walls, strong and lofty, and flanked with square massive towers, which at the gates are built close together, are of the time of the Seljukian kings, who seem to have taken considerable pains to exhibit the Greek inscriptions and the remains of architecture and sculpture belonging to the ancient Iconium, which they made use of in building their walls. A number of Greek altars, columns, and other fragments, are inserted into the fabric, which is in tolerable preservation ; but none of these remains seem to be of a very remote period, even of the Roman empire. The Serai stands on the site of the palace of the ancient Sultans of Iconium, and contains some few remains of massive and elegant Arabic architecture, though the building itself is a low shabby wooden edifice. The most remarkable building in Konia is the tomb of a saint, highly revered throughout Turkey, called Hazret Mevlana, the founder of the Mevlevi Dervishes. His sepulchre, which is the object of a Mussulman pilgrimage, is surmounted by a dome, standing upon a cylindrical tower of a bright green colour. The city, like all those renowned for superior sanctity, abounds with Dervishes, who meet the passenger at every turning of the streets, and demand paras with the greatest clamour and insolence. Some of them pretend to be idiots, and are hence considered as entitled to peculiar respect, or at least indulgence. The bazars and houses have little to recommend them to notice. At the head of the Greek community is a metropolitan bishop, but the Greek language is not used in the church service; the four gospels and prayers are printed in Turkish. Konia is the seat of government of the eyalet of Karaman and the residence of the governor-general of that eyalet. Its pop. is stated by the Turks to be 33,000. The gardens of Konia abound in fruit-trees, and the country supplies grain and flax in abundance. Carpets are manufactured, and blue and yellow leather prepared here. Cotton-wool and hides are sent to Smyrna by the caravans.

Yeshil, 9 h.; a village standing on a small eminence, in an extensive plain of excellent soil, but almost wholly uncultivated and subject to inundations. The village is inhabited by peasants.

Kara-Bounar, 10 h.; a town composed chiefly of mud cabins, but containing a spacious and substantial khan and mosque built by an eunuch of one of the emperors. Near the mosque are some fragments of alabaster columns. A manufacture of saltpetre is carried on here, and the women make socks of coarse woollen yarn, which are strong and warm, and in great request among travellers in winter; they are sold for 8 or 10 paras the pair. Some curious volcanic phenomena exist in the neighbourhood of Kara-Bounar, amongst which is a trachytic crater, with a smaller cone rising up in the centre. There are similar cones in the neighbourhood. These Barathra are supposed to be the Barata of the Tables. “The name,” says Hamilton, “which signifies ‘deep pits,’ cannot well apply to anything else than these remarkable craters, which must have attracted the attention of the ancients.”

Eregli, 12 h., see Rte. 40. The road now proceeds towards the Pylæ Ciliciæ, a distance of 29 h., crossing an elevated branch of the mountains. On the summit of the mountain is a small village, where the Turcomans, with their flocks and herds, are found dwelling in tents, in an almost inaccessible spot, where the air is always cool and salubrious, and pellucid springs give animation to the scene. The juniper is mingled with the cedar, while the dwarf-elder skirts the mountain to a certain height. It requires 5 h. from Eregli to reach the summit. The pass of the Pylæ Ciliciæ is described in another place. The entrance to it is 29 h. from Eregli.

Tarsus, 12 h. There is a British Vice-Consul here. This once proud capital retains its ancient name, pronounced Tersoos, but has barely a trace of its former magnificence. The modern city is scarcely a fourth part of the size of the Roman city. The river Cydnus, which in the days of Cyrus and Alexander flowed through Tarsus, holds its course ½m. E. of the present town. No inscriptions, nor any monuments of beauty and art, are to be found here. The houses are terrace-roofed, and seldom above one story high, and most of them are built of the hewn stone of the more ancient edifices. A portion of the town is surrounded by a wall, supposed to be the work of Haroun-al-Raschid. A Castle here is said to have been built by Bajazet. On an eminence S.W. of the town are ruins of a spacious circular edifice, and the foundations of a more ancient wall may be traced beyond the limits of the town. 200 yards W. of the circular edifice is an ancient gateway nearly entire. An artificial mound near it commands an extensive view of the plain and the course of the Cydnus. The town contains 2 baths, several mosques and caravanserais and a small Church bearing marks of high antiquity, and, according to tradition, founded by St. Paul. A tree in the burying-ground is said to have been planted with his own hands. Near the river are the remains of a theatre buried in rubbish. The population is considerable, and is said during winter to amount to 30,000 souls; among these are 200 Armenian and 100 Greek families; the rest are Turks and Turcomans, who remove into the mountains in summer to avoid the pestilential heat. The land round Tarsus is very fertile, yielding all kinds of grain in abundance. During the Peninsular war a large quantity of corn was exported to Malta for the use of the British army. Copper from Maden, and gallnuts from the mountains, are staple commodities. The imports consist of rice and sugar from Damietta, coffee from Yemen, and coffee, sugar, and hardware from Malta. The city was governed by a Mutsellim appointed by Chapwan Oglu, who, on the death of the latter and the ruin of his family, hoisted the standard of revolt, and declared himself independent. The district is comprised in the eyalet of Adana. Tarsus is only h. from Mersinah, a port at which the French and Austrian steamers touch between Rhodes and Iskenderun. Mersinah offers no inducement to halt there, and means of transport to Tarsus can be got readily enough.

According to Arrian and Strabo, Tarsus was founded by Sardanapalus, king of Assyria. By others its origin is ascribed to an Argive colony under Triptolemus, who is represented on the medals in a chariot drawn by dragons. It became illustrious for learning and science, in which it was even said to surpass Athens and Alexandria. It was here that Alexander nearly lost his life by bathing in the Cydnus, and that Mark Antony had his first interview with Cleopatra. It was called Juliopolis, in honour of Julius Caesar, with whom it took part in the civil war, and who spent some days here. It was also much favoured by Augustus, who, at the instance of his tutor, Athenodorus the Stoic, a native of the city, granted it immunity from taxes. There is no record of its having ever become Roman colony. St. Paul, who was born here, was a Roman citizen, but it is supposed that this might be by virtue of some hereditary right, and not as a denizen of Tarsus, which seems to have been only an “urbs libera.”

Cilicia, after being by turns subject to the kings of Assyria and the successors of Alexander, was reduced by Pompey to a Roman province; it was conquered by Haroun-al-Raschid: it formed part of the Armenian kingdom of Leo in the 13th century, and has been subject to the Turks since the reign of Bajazet II.

Adana, 8 h., retains its ancient name, and is situated on the W. bank of the Sihoun, the ancient Sarus. It is still a considerable town, and the capital of an eyalet, including the chief part of Cilicia proper. Next to Tarsus it was the most flourishing town of Cilicia, and was one of those to which the pirates were banished by Pompey. It subsequently shared the fate of Tarsus. The modern town is situated on a gentle declivity, surrounded on all sides by groves of fruit-trees and vineyards. The plain on every side is extremely fertile. The town is large and well built, and the population, composed of Turks and Turcomans, is supposed to be nearly equal to that of Tarsus. A bridge over the Sihoun is said to have been built by Justinian. Near the bridge is a castle, ¼ m. in circuit, apparently the work of the Mohammedans. Part of the ancient walls remain, and a noble gateway in the bazar forms a striking contrast to the architecture around it. The road now passes over fertile, but uncultivated plains, to

Messis, 6 h.: 19m.-a large village of mud huts, erected on hillocks of sand and rubbish, the ruins of the ancient Mopsuestia, which stood a long siege against John Zimisces and Nicephorus Phocas, but was at length taken. This village is situated on the rt. bank of the Ghihoun, the ancient Pyramus, and is inhabited by a gang of Turcoman freebooters, who are tributary to the Pasha of Adana.

Kastanleh, 6 h.: 20 m. A ruined town, inhabited by 4 or 5 Turcoman families, on the site of the ancient Castabala. The road now lies through a narrow valley clothed with copsewood and evergreens. At the 8th m. from Kastanleh, the rocks of the defile on each side approach each other, and the traveller passes under the arch of an old gateway built of black granite, called Kara Kapu, or Black-gate, probably the old gate of Cilicia. The building was once probably much more extensive than it is now, and was intended evidently to defend the entrance of the defile. The pass now immediately expands, and in ½ hour we reach the end of the bay of Iskenderoon.

Karabolat, 3½ h. from Kara Kapu.

Baias, 2½ h. It is also called Payass, the ancient Baiæ. Its name may be Roman, but nothing is known of its origin. It stands on a small plain at the foot of Mount Amanus, which rises from the extremity of the gulf of Iskenderoon. It has a small harbour protected by a castle, and was a few years ago a wealthy and populous town, the residence of the rebel chief Kutshuk Ali, who plundered the Aleppo caravans, and laid all the neighbouring districts under contribution. At length the Porte, irritated by his piracies and depredations, fitted out an expedition against him, which took Payass, and reduced it to a mass of ruins, in which state it was found by Mr. Kinneir in 1813, when the only habitable dwelling was occupied by a Kiaya.

Baias is 16 m. from Iskenderoon. At the 9th m. are the ruins of a castle at the foot of the mountains, which here approach the sea; and near it, on a projecting point of land, is a sort of obelisk, apparently ancient. At the 12th m. is a small but rapid river, supposed by Mr. Kinneir to be the Pinarus; and ½m. further, the fragments of ancient walls jutting into the sea. Mr. Kinneir supposes Baias to be Issus; and the flat between Baias and Iskenderoon the field on which the memorable battle of Issus was fought, which decided the fate of the Persian empire and Darius. Pococke, however, assigns to a different spot the distinction of being the scene of this battle; namely, a plain to the S. of the plain of Baias, and separated from it by a low hill. The river Mahersey, which runs in a narrow vale opposite the centre of the plain, he thinks is the Pinarus.