Everything about Anazarbus totally explained
Anazarbus in Ancient Clicia (Adana) (med.
Ain Zarba; mod.
Anavarza) was an ancient
Cilician city, situated in
Anatolia in modern
Turkey, in the
Aleian plain about 10 miles west of the main stream of the
Pyramus river (Jihun) and near its tributary the
Sempas Su.
A lofty isolated ridge formed its
acropolis. Though some of the masonry in the ruins is certainly pre-Roman, the
Suda's identification of it with
Cyinda, famous as a treasure city in the wars of
Eumenes of Cardia, can't be accepted in the face of
Strabo's express location of Cyinda in western Cilicia.
Under the early
Roman empire the place was known as
Caesarea, and was the metropolis of
Cilicia Secunda. Rebuilt by the emperor
Justin I after an
earthquake, it became
Justinopolis (
525); but the old native name persisted, and when
Thoros I, king of
Lesser Armenia, made it his capital early in the
12th century, it was known as
Anazarva.
Its great natural strength and situation, not far from the mouth of the
Sis pass, and near the great road which
debouched from the
Cilician Gates, made Anazarbus play a considerable part in the struggles between the
Byzantine Empire and the early
Muslim invaders. It had been rebuilt by
Harun al-Rashid in
796, refortified at great expense by
Saif ad-Daula, the
Hamdanid (10th century) and sacked, and ruined by the crusaders.
The present wall of the lower city is of late construction, probably Armenian. It encloses a mass of ruins conspicuous in which are a fine
triumphal arch, the colonnades of two streets, a
gymnasium, etc. A stadium and a theatre lie outside on the south. The remains of the acropolis fortifications are very interesting, including roads and ditches hewn in the rock; but beyond ruins of two churches and a fine tower built by Thoros I. There are no notable structures in the upper town. For picturesqueness the site isn't equalled in Cilicia, and it's worthwhile to trace the three fine
aqueducts to their sources.
A visit in December, 2002 showed that the three aqueducts mentioned above have been nearly completely destroyed. Only small, isolated sections are left standing with the largest portion lying in a pile of rubble that stretches the length of where the aqueducts once stood. A powerful earthquake that struck the area in 1945 is thought to be responsible for the destruction.
Notable people
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