It was established in the south of anatolia, stretching on the fertile lands where the river Goksu/Calycadnos flows into the sea. as a result of the excavations conducded on the Silifke castle in the area called the ancient Cilicia, it appears that the area was inhabited since the prehistorical times and that it was located on the road which, by passing across the mountainous Cilicia along the Vally of Goksu, connected the Central anatolia to the Mediterranean. the castle was repaired by Seleucos Nicator in the 3rd century B.c. and it took its present shape. The city served as the metropolitan of the province of Isaura during the Roman era. In the 7th century A.D. it was razed to the ground as a result of the Arab raids. In 1254 it was captured by Islam Bey, of the Turkoman Avshars. The Silifke Castle is located today on top of rocky hill and 4 km long. To the castle with the remains of a place in the center a hidden gallery was built which descended down to the banks of the river Goksu during the Ottoman era. Built to the south of the Castle is an ancient theatre of which the arches and tiers of seats are visible and the Temple of Apollon of periphteral plan and capitals measuring 8x14. the other works of art in the area are the Calycadnos Bridge and, to the east, the grotto church of Hagia. Thecla, the first female saint of Christianity, Corycos maiden\'s castle built on a small island, 150 m off the shore, "cave of heaven", a natural sink in the mainland, 75 m deep and with a subterranean river, and beside this, "cave off Hell" where patients were thrown into and the rock-carved Church of Holy Virgin Mary. To the north of Silifke, within the settlement Uzunca Burc (High Tower), is the sanctuary DIOCAESAREA where the famed temple of zeus, of periphteral plan and surrounded with columns measuring 6x12, and funerary monuments are found, and to the west of this the remains of the city of Olba possessing various objects from the antique era. Lying on the east shore are the remains of the ancient cities Neopolis/Kanlidivane and Pompeipolis.
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