İskenderun
İskenderun (Arabic: إسكندرونة), historically known as Alexandretta (Greek: Αλεξανδρέττα, lit. 'little Alexandria') and Scanderoon,[2][3][4] is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey.[5] Its area is 247 km2,[6] and its population is 251,682 (2022).[1] It is on the Mediterranean coast. Located on an alluvial plain, the city was heavily damaged by powerful earthquakes in February 2023 and subsequent aftershocks, floods and fires.
The city's history dates back to 333 BC, when it was founded by Alexander the Great as Alexandretta. It subsequently fell under Seleucid rule before being conquered by the Romans. After defeating the Byzantines in the 8th century, the Abbasid Caliphate gained control of the city. During the First Crusade, it came under the control of the Principality of Antioch before being captured by the Mamluk Sultanate.
By the 15th century, the Ottomans had conquered the city, maintaining control over it until the partition of the Ottoman Empire after the Allied victory in World War I. It subsequently became a sanjak in the French mandate of Syria until 1938, when France granted the region independence. The city became part of the Hatay State which in turn united with Turkey in 1939.
Name[edit]
The city was founded as Alexandria (Ἀλεξάνδρεια) to commemorate Alexander the Great's victory over the Persian Darius III at Issus (Cilicia) in (333 BC). Starting in the Middle Ages, Western pilgrims used the diminutive Romance form Alexandretta.[7]
Demographics[edit]
19th-century traveler Martin Hartmann put the population of Iskenderun at roughly 500 households with no entry on ethnicity. Out of the 29 other settlements he listed in the Ottoman nahiyah of Iskenderun, 19 were Turkish (366 houses), 2 were Alawite (100 houses), 2 were Turkish-Alawite mixed (28 houses), and no information was listed for the remaining 6. He did not list any Sunni Arab households.[33]
Iskenderun Courthouse
Interior of Ulu Mosque in İskenderun
İskenderun Orthodox Church
İskenderun port
Culture[edit]
Cuisine[edit]
Distinctive İskenderun dishes include Künefe, a hot dessert with cheese. The main dishes include the Turkish staples such as döner and other kebabs served in the flat dürüm bread, lahmacun and also Antakya influenced cuisine including kibbeh, and sour pomegranate syrup used as a salad dressing. İskenderun in particular offers good quality fish and prawns.
Media[edit]
İskenderun is served by the Güney Gazetesi newspaper.
Sports[edit]
The city has two association football clubs. One of them is Körfez İskenderunspor. The more successful İskenderunspor folded in 2006, although a phoenix club İskenderunspor 1967 was then founded in 2009.
The city's basketball team is called İskenderun Belediyesi Spor Kulübü.
In popular culture[edit]
İskenderun is featured in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as an important starting point for the Grail map. The State of Hatay is depicted as being ruled by a Sultan, although it was technically a transitional republic.
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