Tarsus is a legendary city, the home to the Apostle Paul, and the place where Cleopatra met the Roman General Antonio (they eventually lived here together for a year). This gate, known as Cleopatra's gate was ornately rebuilt at the entrance of the port of Gozlu Kule as connection to the city wall for Cleopatra's arrival about 41 AD. As you can see from the picture, the gate is now in the middle of the city, and about 10K from the sea. If you remember, the Nile has always flooded the river delta, but people have been able to keep the silt from overtaking too much of the land. Tarsus wasn't so lucky, and as you will see in the picture of the Antique road there is now about a 6 meter build up of soil on top of these ruins. So, much of the ancient city is cozily nestled underground, but there are a few remaining sites to see.
(We came here today with our nanny Atife and her daughter Menekse, so they may appear in a few pictures along the way.)
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