Population: 30,000
Once a famous beauty spot drawn by the likes of the 19th-century British artist William Bartlett, Belen, on the summit of the Belen Pass (Syrian Gates, 660m) south of İskenderun, is now a mess of concrete high-rises. Only on the Antakya side of the pass is there any sense of beauty as the flat plain opens out below the mountain although even that view is now marred by wind turbines.
It was through here that, in 333 BC, Alexander the Great pursued the army of the Persian king Darius III after beating him at the Battle of Issus.
Up above the busy main road stands a complex of mosque, hamam and caravanserai commissioned from the great Ottoman architect Sinan by Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent in 1548. The mosque and hamam have been reasonably restored and are still in business. The caravanserai, however, has been very crudely rebuilt and is now used as everything from a teahouse and Internet café to a venue for wedding parties. On my most recent visit in June 2015 it was locked and inaccessible.
As you leave town heading for Antakya look up on the left-hand side of the road to see the remains of an old church with belltower.
Heading down to İskenderun you will see on the right-hand side of the road what looks like a stretch of the stone outer wall of the town and its gate.
Transport info
Get here by dolmuş from the main Adana-Antakya road near the Grand Ontur Hotel in İskenderun; by minibus from the Antakya local bus terminal; or from Kırıkhan otogar.
