Despite its long history, its striking setting on the banks of the swift-flowing Göksu (literally skywater) River just a few kilometers short of the blue waters of the Mediterranean, a spectacular mountain backdrop and its proximity to a number of fascinating sights, Silifke is well off the radar of most tourists.
This must seem like a curse to the local tourism authorities but it is a blessing to the discerning traveler in search of somewhere that’s a little off the beaten track yet can still offer comfortable accommodation, decent restaurants and, if need be, easy access to the beaches of Turkey’s eastern Mediterranean coast.
Silifke is a corruption of the town’s ancient name, Seleucia, taken from its founding father, Seleucus Nicator, one of Alexander the Great’s top generals. For a short while after its inauguration in 300 B.C., Seleucia was the capital of a mighty kingdom, until Seleucus decided that Antioch (Antakya), further down the coast, would make a better powerbase. Nothing now remains of Silifke’s Hellenistic Greek past, but the city continued to prosper under the Romans and during the Byzantine Christian period, when it was on the route of pilgrims heading off to Jerusalem. The Middle Ages were marked by struggle after struggle for possession of the town, strategically placed to control west-east movement along the Mediterranean coast and, more importantly, the crucial trade route from the Anatolian interior south through the formidable barrier of the Toros range to the coast following the valley of the Göksu. The Cilician Armenians and Crusaders were succeeded by the Seljuk Turks, who were in turn displaced by the Karamanoðlu, until in 1471 the town was captured by the Ottomans.
So, apart from wandering along the riverside beneath the shade of spreading plane trees and trying to spot trout in the blue-green flashing waters, what else is there to do in town? Freya Stark, the “tough as old boots” British lady traveler who came here in the 1950s when trying to work out the route the great Alexander took through Asia Minor in the fourth century B.C., typically headed straight up the hill to the prominent Byzantine castle and wrote: “The castle of Silifke was close above the town with apparently no approach at all. An Italian municipality would have given it a ‘panoramic drive’ and spoilt it in the process but the Turks, in a land more encrusted than any other with history, are almost unbelievably uninterested in ruins.” The Turks’ attitude to the nation’s historic sites has changed dramatically since Stark’s day, but their attitude to visitors has not. Stark was accompanied on her ascent by a local cloth merchant, delighted to show Stark what she wanted to see, even if he’d rather have been drinking tea with his mates below. You’re just as likely to be treated with such kindness in friendly, out of the way Silifke today.
There’s little to be seen inside the castle walls today (though there are a couple of 13th century Armenian inscriptions carved into the walls), but the views down over the town and the coastal plain beyond and back up the Göksu valley to the wall of the Toros Mountains are superb. Below the castle to the south are the impressive remains of a Byzantine cistern, the Tekirambarý, with a narrow stone staircase snaking its way down to the now dry and grassed floor of the cistern. Back towards the center of town is the second century A.D. Temple of Zeus. Palm trees dot the jumble of ruins, presided over by the only column (of 14) still standing. In spring and early summer the Corinthian capital surmounting the pillar is home to an imperious stork and its young. There’s little else of historical note to be seen inside the town boundaries bar the Ulu Camii -- a Seljuk Turk foundation but much altered over the centuries, with only the prayer-niche (mihrab) and porch dating back to pre-Ottoman times -- and the contents of the Archeological Museum. The latter has a good collection of coins dating from the Persian and Byzantine eras as well as bits and bats of statuary found in and around the Temple of Zeus.
The town center may have its nesting stork for part of each year and a traffic-island on the outskirts, a rather kitsch but very permanent fiberglass statue of the town’s symbol, a çukur (a kind of partridge), but bird lovers come here for the aptly named Kuþcenneti (Bird Heaven) reserve on the Göksu Delta. It’s a rare wilderness area on the eastern Mediterranean seaboard and of significant environmental importance. There are platforms and hides tucked in the reeds around the two major lagoons within the reserve, Akgöl and Paradeniz. Birdwatchers come here for the Dalmatian pelicans, black francolin, osprey, Audoin’s gull, Smyrna kingfisher and marble-headed ducks, amongst others. It’s not all about our feathered friends though, and both loggerhead and green turtles nest on the sand spits. In October the reserve is filled with migrating birds making their way to Africa for the winter, most making the return journey in March/April the following year. Even if you’ve only a passing interest in wildlife, the Göksu Delta can be an entrancing place, with the salt-flats, lagoons and reed-beds simmering away beneath a big, sweeping sky and the only sound the whisper of the wind in the reeds and the incessant croaking of legions of frogs.
Aya Tekla: a fifth century church
Those with a taste for the obscure, a religious bent or a love of the miraculous may enjoy a trip to Aya Tekla, five kilometers west and north of the town. Here, on a hilltop, are the scant (the apse if you must know) remains of a large fifth century Byzantine church near a small grotto, that of St. Thecla.
How to get here Intercity buses connect Silifke with Antalya/Alanya to the west, Adana/Mersin to the east via the coastal highway. From the interior, buses from Konya follow the Göksu valley. The nearest airport is Adana.
Where to stay and eat The aptly named Göksu Hotel is right on the banks of the river, is well-run with all mod-cons and, best of all, has a gorgeous garden-restaurant overlooking the river.
Sites Archeological Museum; daily except Monday, 8 a.m.-noon and 1p.m.-5 p.m.; YTL 2
Cave of St. Thecla (Aya Thekla); Mon-Fri. 8 a.m.-noon and 1 p.m.-5 p.m.; YTL 2
Kuþcenneti bird reserve information center; Tel.: (324) 713 08 88
Guides “The Rough Guide to Turkey,” “Blue Guide: Turkey” and the “Lonely Planet Turkey Travel Guide.”
