ANAZARBUS (1374)

City of the ancient province of Cilicia in Anatolia; important in the Roman Byzantine periods, it was located what is now the province of Içel il, Turkey.


Founded by the Romans as Caesarea ad Anazarbum in 19 BC, it rivalled Tarsus, the Cilician capital, in the 3rd century AD, and later became the seat of the separate province of Cilicia Secunda.


Anazarbus was an archbishopric under the Byzantine Empire. Devastated by earthquakes in the 6th century, it was rebuilt, first as Justinopolis, later as Justinianopolis.


Under Muslim occupation it was renamed Ayn Zarbah and retained its strategic importance. Regained for Byzantium by Nicephorus Phocas about 962 and subsequently devastated during the Crusades, it became, as Anavarza, the capital of Cilician Lesser Armenia early in the 12th century. The Mamluks of Egypt finally destroyed the city in 1374.


A Byzantine-Armenian castle -the finest medieval monuments in Cilicia- stands on the ruins of the site. Remnants of several Byzangtine churches, a triumphal arch, a theatre, stadium, amphitheatre, and aqueducts are also preserved. 


Latest census 309.