Pozantı

37°25′40″N 34°52′16″E / 37.42778°N 34.87111°E / 37.42778; 34.87111CountryTurkeyProvinceAdanaGovernment • MayorAli Avan (MHP)Area899 km² (347 sq mi)Elevation780 m (2,560 ft)Population19,852 • Density22/km² (57/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)Area code0322Websitewww.pozanti.bel.tr

Pozantı (Greek: Πενδοσις, romanized: Pendhòsis, formerly Arabic: الْبَدَندُون, romanized: el-Bedendûn) is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey.^[2] Its area is 899 km²,^[3] and its population is 19,852 (2022).^[1] The town is in the highlands of Çukurova, and is a major gateway to the Mediterranean coasts. Pozantı stands in the foothills, at the bottom of one of the few passes through the mountains. The mayor is Ali Avan (MHP).

History

Pozantı has had a number of names. In antiquity it was Pendonsis or Pendosis, to the Arabs El Bedendum, and finally Bozantı and Pozantı in Turkish.

Standing at the entrance to a pass across the Taurus Mountains, Pendonsis was strategically important, as the gateway between the high plain of Anatolia and the low plain of Cilicia or Çukurova and the Middle East beyond. Pozantı has passed through the hands of Hittites, Persians, Alexander the Great, Rome and Byzantium. Muslim forces moved through the area in the period of the Abbasids, followed by the Turks after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. During the Crusades, control of the pass was returned to the Byzantines, then the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia and the Mamluks, before finally being brought under Ottoman control by Selim I in 1517.

Pozantı is windy and bleak, and for most of its history was a fort and a road-house, but more people began to live in the area permanently when a railway was built in 1917. However, passing trade on the road is still a major driver of the local economy.

Pozantı was briefly occupied by French forces at the end of World War I.

Composition

There are 21 neighbourhoods in Pozantı District:^[4]

Transportation

Pozantı Gar is the railway station of Pozantı, served by three main line services, connecting Pozantı to Adana, Niğde, Kayseri, Ankara and Karaman.

As the gateway to Çukurova, Pozantı is a stopping point for several coach companies that operate routes from Central Anatolia to Çukurova and further east.

Landmarks

The only historical building in the city center is the mosque and fountain of Ottoman general Cemal Paşa, built in 1919 and since repaired and extended. At the entrance to the pass are the old and new castles of Anhşa.

The Casemates of İbrahim Pasha, the remains of a 19th-century fort, are located on the hill named Tekir, next to the modern highway D.750. The ruins of the Byzantine town of Fenese lay near the village of Aşçıbekirli. More ruins have been found near the village of Kamışlı in the high meadows (yayla) of Ören and Asar.

See also

• Padyandus
• Belemedik

References

Districts

List of provinces by region
Istanbul	Istanbul
West Marmara	Balıkesir Çanakkale Edirne Kırklareli Tekirdağ
Aegean	Afyonkarahisar Aydın Denizli İzmir Kütahya Manisa Muğla Uşak
East Marmara	Bilecik Bolu Bursa Düzce Eskişehir Kocaeli Sakarya Yalova
West Anatolia	Ankara Karaman Konya
Mediterranean	Adana Antalya Burdur Hatay Isparta Kahramanmaraş Mersin Osmaniye
Central Anatolia	Aksaray Kayseri Kırıkkale Kırşehir Nevşehir Niğde Sivas Yozgat
West Black Sea	Amasya Bartın Çankırı Çorum Karabük Kastamonu Samsun Sinop Tokat Zonguldak
East Black Sea	Artvin Giresun Gümüşhane Ordu Rize Trabzon
Northeast Anatolia	Ağrı Ardahan Bayburt Erzincan Erzurum Iğdır Kars
Central East Anatolia	Bingöl Bitlis Elazığ Hakkâri Malatya Muş Tunceli Van
Southeast Anatolia	Adıyaman Batman Diyarbakır Gaziantep Kilis Mardin Siirt Şanlıurfa Şırnak