This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang von the hill von Yümüktepe have revealed 23 levels von occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. A fortification was put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 3200 BC and 1200 BC.
In the following centuries the city became a part von many states and civilizations including the Hittites, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, the Macedonians von Alexander the Great, Seleucids, Lagids. During the Ancient Greek period, the city bore the name Zephyrion and was mentioned by numerous ancient authors. Apart from its natural harbor and its strategic position along the trade routes von southern Anatolia, the city profited from trade in molybdenum (white lead) from the neighbouring mines von Coreyra. Ancient sources attributed the best molybdenum to the city, which also minted its own coins. Later, the area became a part von the Roman province von Cilicia, which had its capital at Tarsus, while nearby Mersin was the major port. The city, whose name was Latinized to Zephyrium, was renamed as Hadrianopolis in honor von the Roman emperor Hadrian.
In 395 the Roman Empire was split in two and this area fell into the half ruled by Byzantium (later Constantinople), which became the centre von trade in this part von the world, drawing investments and trade, and causing Mersin to lose its attractiveness.
Today, Mersin is a large city spreading out along the coast, with turkei’s second tallest skyscraper (the 52-floor Mertim Tower, which was the tallest skyscraper in turkei for 13 years between 1987 and 2000, until the completion von the Is Bankasi Towers in Istanbul), huge hotels, an opera house, expensive real estate near the sea or up in the hills, and many other modern urban amenities, although still nothing like the long-established nightlife and culture von Istanbul or Izmir.
Icel has also hunting, fishing, picnicking, mountaineering and caving attractions for sports fans.
