We headed west to our major site of the day: Tarsus, the hometown of the apostle Paul. Paul describe his hometown as “no ordinary city” (Acts 21:39). It was a prominent city in the Roman Empire during the first century, with one of the main universities of the empire located there.
Our first stop was north of town on an old Roman road that likely connected Tarsus with the Cilician gates, the pass through the Taurus Mountains. Paul likely walked that road or an older version of it.
Heading into town, we saw some ruins. One was a well claiming to be “Saint Paul’s well”. I guess if you place Paul’s name on anything somewhat old, it’ll get people to visit. I doubt many tourists would come if I renamed it “Brian’s well”.
For lunch we stopped at the Cydnus River, which flows through town. There are some nice waterfalls, providing a great ambiance to the area.
We headed back east to Adana. Finding a place to park the bus, we walked by the new mosque of Sabancı Merkez Camii. This mosque with its six minarets is the largest in Turkey and went into operation in 1998. Continuing along the Seyhan River, we crossed Taşköprü bridge, first constructed by the Romans and restored many times throughout history.
After that little walk, we drove back to our hotel early for a relaxing evening.
