Cleopatra's Gate

Editor's Note

Cleopatra's Gate, just outside Tarsus, Mersin, is a historic Ören Yeri — ruins that have weathered into the hillside, with enough surviving fabric to sketch the lives of the people who once moved through it.

Story

In the historic center of Tarsus, standing over the Cydnus River, Cleopatra's Gate bears the footprint of one of the most famous names of the ancient world. Built of limestone, this gate was the main passage connecting the harbor to the city during the Roman period. According to legend, Cleopatra, the powerful queen of Egypt, passed through this gate to enter Tarsus, and such a historical detail has carried the structure into the world of legends. The marks of craftsmanship visible here and there on the stone surface, along with the worn inscriptions, tell of a passage fifteen hundred years old. At the heart of the commercial life of the Roman and Hellenistic periods, this gate, through which countless trade caravans and military units passed, now stands as a silent witness. The river flowing behind the gate, which has watered the stone arch for years, resembles a very old friend. The morning hours are the best time to visit; the light reveals the details on the stone with clarity, and the photographs come out incredible.

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