Silifke

Hikayemiz

Silifke is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, 80km west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of Çukurova.Silifke is near the Mediterranean coast, on the banks of the Göksu River, which flows from the nearby Taurus Mountains, surrounded by attractive countryside along the river banks.EtymologySilifke was formerly called Seleucia on the Calycadnus — variously cited over the centuries as Seleucia Cilicia, Seleucia Isauria, Seleucia Trachea, and Seleucia Tracheotis —. The city took its name from its founder, King Seleucus I Nicator. The ancient Greek city of Olba (Oura) was also within the boundaries of modern-day Silifke. The modern name is a corruption of the Latin Seleucia which comes from the Greek Σελεύκεια.EconomyThe economy of the district depends on agriculture, tourism and raising livestock. The town of Silifke is as a market for the coastal plain, which produces beans, peanuts, sesame, banana, orange, lemon, cotton, grapes, lentils, olives, tobacco, and canned fruits and vegetables. An irrigation project located at Silifke supplies the fertile Göksu delta. In recent years there has been a large investment in glasshouses for producing strawberries and other fruit and vegetables in the winter season.Silifke is also an industrial town, well-connected with other urban areas and producing beverages, chemicals, clothes, footwear, glass, plastics, pottery, and textiles.