Dörtyol & Issus

Dörtyol and Issus offer visitors a combination of ancient history and important landmarks connected with Türkiye’s modern national history. Located along the eastern Mediterranean coast near the Gulf of İskenderun, the area has long been strategically important because of the routes passing between the Amanos Mountains and the sea. Issus Ancient City, also known as Issos, lies in the area between Dörtyol and Erzin. The settlement developed along an important route connecting Cilicia with Syria and the eastern Mediterranean, and archaeological remains in the area include ancient structures, water systems and monumental architectural traces. The wider Issus region is especially famous for the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, when Alexander the Great defeated the Persian army of King Darius III. The battle became one of the decisive events of Alexander’s campaigns and gave the region an important place in ancient military history. Dörtyol also holds an important place in the history of the Turkish National Struggle. The First Bullet Monument commemorates the armed resistance that began in the Dörtyol area following the occupations after the First World War. Official local records associate the event with 19 December 1918 in Karakese village. The monument was opened in 1994 to preserve the memory of this period and the local resistance movement. It remains an important commemorative landmark for visitors interested in the early stages of the Turkish War of Independence. Together, Issus Ancient City and the First Bullet Monument reveal two very different but important periods in the history of Dörtyol. The legacy of Alexander the Great’s campaigns and the memory of the National Struggle make the area an interesting historical excursion around İskenderun and Hatay.