Tarsus, The Birtplace of St. Paul, Turkey

Tarsus is the most important city for St. Paul’s birth. This city is situated in the Cilician plain. The Cilician plain is known as Cukurova and then it was known as Smooth Cilicia.

It is supposed to be in 10 C.E, St. Paul was born in Tarsus. At that time Tarsus was an ancient city already. Tarsus was occupied since the Neolithic period (from nearly 7 B.C.E). During Bronze Age history it is supposed to be the capital of the Kizzuwatna Kingdom. Puduhepa was the priestess in this Kingdom. Also then, she moved to  Hattusas and became the Hittite queen.

Tarsus is now a modern city in the South of Turkey. It also has many historic buildings. One of them is The Church Mosque. It is located in the city center and it is supposed to be dedicated to St. Paul. It was a church until 1415. And after that year, it was converted to a mosque.

Another important building is St. Paul’s Well. In fact it is an old stone but very interesting to see. There is The Tarsus Museum which was built in the 16th century.