From Adana to the Taurus, from a Factory Museum to a Mountain Railway

Start the day at the entrance of the museum complex in the Döşeme neighbourhood and spend the first few minutes in the courtyard before going inside. The brick factory buildings, the tall windows and the wide hangars are as important an exhibit here as the museum itself. The building was founded in 1907 as a yarn factory by the Simyonoğlu family and began operating in 1927 under the name Milli Mensucat Factory. The factory closed in the 1980s, restoration began in 2013, and the archaeological museum opened here in 2017. Looking at the buildings while knowing that the writer Orhan Kemal worked for a while in the factory's accounts office, and that his observations here inspired the novel Murtaza, makes the courtyard read differently. The complex is very large, so do not try to see everything; dividing two hours into three sections is the best plan for this route. Give the first hour to the eight halls of the Archaeological Museum. The halls run in order from prehistory to the Ottoman period, so walking in a straight line from the entrance is enough. Be sure to look for the stone statue of the Hittite Storm God Tarhunda; the figure standing on a chariot drawn by bulls is about two and a half metres tall and was found buried in a field in 1998. The stele with Anatolian hieroglyphic inscriptions and the Babylonian stele are displayed in the same halls. In the Roman section, look closely at the reliefs on the long side of the Achilles sarcophagus found in Tarsus in 1958, where the scene of Hector's body being returned for a ransom is carved in detail. The bronze male statue recovered from the sea off the Karataş coast is also among the most photographed pieces in this section. Devote the second half hour to the mosaic hangars. The mosaics here were brought from the centre and districts of Adana through rescue excavations and laid on the floor in keeping with the way they were found. The work remembered as the first mosaic rescued in the city, found at Misis in 1956, is also here and comes from the ancient town at the Misis Bridge, which you will visit on another day. Look closely at the colour transitions of the mosaic showing Erotes riding sea horses, which came from the floor of a Roman villa at the ancient city of Aigeai in Yumurtalık. The high ceiling and abundant light of the hangars make it easy to see the mosaics from above; a wide-angle lens is useful here. Give the last half hour to the Agriculture and Industry sections, because the rest of the day will be spent on the plain these two rooms describe. In the Agriculture section, cotton, watermelon, sunflower, citrus and karakılçık wheat are presented with reconstructions. The Industry section shows how cotton built Adana's industry, the production processes of the factories and the generation of electricity. In the Milli Mensucat section, models of the factory and its production equipment show how the inside of the buildings you saw in the courtyard once worked. Before leaving the museum, fill your water bottle and get ready for the journey, because all three of the following stops are in the open air. Check the opening days and hours on the website of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. From here a short drive north through the city takes you to the dam lake.

Source: KTB Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Adana Müzesi; İstiklal (AA), mozaik salonu; ABB, Adana'da Gezilecek 100 Yer s. 36; Wikipedia, Adana Arkeoloji Müzesi.

As you drive north from the museum the city ends abruptly and a wide expanse of water opens up before you. The municipality's travel guide places the lake about ten kilometres from the city centre, so you reach it with a short drive after the museum. Leave the car on one of the flat areas along the lake shore and first walk a few hundred metres towards the water. What to do at this stop is to grasp the scale: the lake before you is the held-back water of the river that once flooded the plain you saw in the museum this morning, year after year. The dam was built as an earth-fill structure to protect Adana from the floods of the Seyhan River and was opened on 8 April 1956. According to the sources, construction was completed in 974 days. According to the State Hydraulic Works, the dam took on the task of protecting about 850 thousand decares of land known as old Adana, together with the city centre, from floods. According to the municipality's guide, the dam allows about 174 thousand hectares of land to be irrigated. In other words, the water for the cotton and watermelon fields in the museum's agriculture section comes largely from here. The dam's power plant has also contributed to the city's electricity for many years. As you walk along the shore, keep your eyes on the water and on the distant electricity pylons. The lake and its surroundings were declared a Wildlife Development Area in 2006 and are regarded as a resting place for migratory birds. In a midwinter count carried out in this area, more than twenty-five thousand birds belonging to 13 waterbird species were recorded. The stork nests on top of the electricity pylons are also among the well-known sights of the area. A pair of binoculars turns this stop into an entirely different experience; otherwise do not rely on your phone's zoom, as watching the birds from a distance without disturbing them is the right thing to do. The water level changes noticeably with the season and with drought. During the construction of the dam in 1955 a Roman city called Augusta was discovered, partly excavated and then submerged under the lake. It is known that some of its remains can be seen when the water drops very low; but think of this as a lucky chance rather than a goal. For photographs, late morning gives a bright reflection on the water, while in the late afternoon the hills on the far shore take on a soft light. There may be little shade on the shore; a hat and water make this stop easier. Do not enter the nesting and resting areas of the birds and do not leave litter on the shore. At the end of the hour-long break return to the car; the road ahead will take you away from the plain to the foothills of the Taurus, towards Karaisalı.

Source: ABB, Adana'da Gezilecek 100 Yer s. 74; Türkiye Gazetesi (DSİ açıklaması); Wikipedia, Seyhan Barajı, Seyhan Dam ve Adana Seyhan Baraj Gölü YHGS.

The Varda Viaduct lies about seventy-five kilometres from the city at Hacıkırı in the Karaisalı district, and the local people call it Koca Köprü, the Big Bridge. You come along the road to Karaisalı; according to Wikipedia the road distance from Adana via Karaisalı is around sixty-four kilometres. The road narrows and winds in the last section, so do not hurry. Leave the car on the flat ground at the edge of the valley and look at the bridge first from the side, from a point where you can see its whole length. The bridge is about 172 metres long and 99 metres high at the central pier; some sources give the height as 98 metres. The first thing to notice is that the bridge is not straight but curved, describing an arc with a radius of about 1200 metres along the railway. Look in turn at the three great arches above the four main piers and at the smaller arches on either side. English Wikipedia describes the structure as a viaduct made of eleven ashlar arches in total. The bridge was built for one of the most difficult crossings in the Taurus Mountains on the railway that was to link Istanbul with Baghdad and the Hejaz. The construction dates differ in the sources: the Kültür Envanteri writes that work began in 1905, the Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism that it began in 1907, and both say it was completed in 1912. According to the ministry page, 21 workers and one German engineer lost their lives during the five years of construction; remembering this labour while looking at the bridge is the quietest moment of the stop. The Kültür Envanteri notes that the bridge allowed the earlier U-shaped line, which posed a risk for trains, to be taken out of use. The water flowing at the bottom of the valley is the Çakıt stream; a little upstream the same stream cuts the Kapıkaya Canyon, and according to the travel guide the canyon is about two kilometres from the bridge. If you have time you can go as far as the start of the canyon's laid-out walking path and look at the limestone walls of the valley. The bridge is also known for appearing in the opening scene of the James Bond film Skyfall. The best angle for photographs is the edge of the valley that shows the bridge from the side together with its arches; in the afternoon the sun falls sideways on the stone piers. If a train passes, the scale of the bridge suddenly becomes clear, but do not upset your plan waiting for one. The line is still in use, so never walk onto the bridge, the tracks or into the tunnels. The sides of the valley are steep; if you come with children keep them by your side. It is easy to find shade and flat ground to sit on here, which makes it a suitable place for a lunch break. Eat the food you have brought here and take your rubbish back with you. There is no direct mountain road from here to Belemedik; return to the motorway and drive north towards Pozantı.

Source: KTB Adana İl Kültür ve Turizm Müdürlüğü, Varda Köprüsü; Kültür Portalı; Kültür Envanteri; ABB, Adana'da Gezilecek 100 Yer s. 134 ve 136; Wikipedia, Varda Köprüsü ve Varda Viaduct.

You descend to Belemedik by the road coming from Pozantı in the north; English Wikipedia writes that this is the only way to reach the place. The sources give its distance from the centre of Pozantı as between nine and twelve kilometres. The village stands inside the Taurus Mountains on the west bank of the Çakıt stream, at an altitude of about seven hundred metres above sea level. The first thing you notice when you get out of the car is the air; it is noticeably cooler and damper than on the plain you left in the morning. You have two and a half hours at this last stop, and the best way to use them is a slow walk in the valley. Begin the walk at the railway station. In 1907 Belemedik became the centre of the Philipp Holzmann company's construction work on the Baghdad railway, and the station is a legacy of that period. According to English Wikipedia, the camp set up for the construction workers and technical staff had facilities such as a hospital, a school and a cinema. The stone ruins and tunnel mouths seen in the valley today are traces of those years. The Taurus Tunnels are most densely packed on the section between Hacıkırı and Belemedik; in other words, the Varda you saw in the morning and this place are two ends of the same difficult line. Recall here the story told about the village's name as well: it is said that the name of the place, formerly called Karapınar, comes from the German pronunciation of the word bilemedik, meaning we could not tell, spoken by the teams digging the tunnels from opposite sides when they failed to meet. This is a popular tale and the sources pass it on as such. It is also known that 41 German workers who died of natural causes during the construction years were buried at Belemedik. After the station, walk along the Çakıt stream and look at the plane trees. According to TRT Haber, some of the plane trees in the valley have been standing for more than two hundred years. In autumn the leaves turn yellow and red, and this season is the favourite time of nature photographers and walkers. The highland houses built of stone and wood are also part of the fabric of the valley; regard them as private property and photograph them from a distance. The municipality's travel guide writes that bungalows in keeping with the local fabric, as well as camping and caravan areas, have been opened on the site; if you want to spend the night here, find out the current situation from the operating authority. Keep away from the railway line during the walk; the inside of the tunnels is not a footpath. There may be slippery stones on the paths, so wear closed, sturdy shoes. Respect the wildlife and leave no rubbish or fire on the stream bank. For photographs, afternoon light is lost early because the valley is narrow; finish the shots under the plane trees before the sun moves behind the slope. On the way back you climb up to Pozantı again and descend to Adana by the motorway.

Source: TRT Haber, Belemedik'te sonbahar; ABB, Adana'da Gezilecek 100 Yer s. 190; Wikipedia, Belemedik, Belemedik Tren İstasyonu ve Toros Tünelleri.