Karataş

This article is about the district of Adana Province. For other uses, see Karataş (disambiguation).

Karataş (Turkish for black stone) is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey.^[2] Its area is 862 km²,^[3] and its population is 23,499 (2022).^[1] The town itself has 10,293 inhabitants.^[4] It is on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, 47 km from the city of Adana, between the rivers Seyhan and Ceyhan, the Pyramos of Antiquity.

Karataş
District and municipality
Map showing Karataş District in Adana Province
Karataş Location in Turkey
Coordinates: 36°33′45″N 35°22′49″E
Country	Turkey
Province	Adana
Government
• Mayor	Ali Bedrettin Karataş (CHP)
Area	862 km2 (333 sq mi)
Elevation	10 m (30 ft)
Population  (2022)[1]	23,499
• Density	27/km2 (71/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (TRT)
Postal code	01900
Area code	0322
Website	www.karatas.bel.tr

History

Main articles: Magarsos and Antiochia ad Pyramum

Coins belonging to the ancient city of Mallos, which was an ancient city established at the mouth of the Ceyhan river within the borders of the Kızıltahta village of today's Adana/Karataş district.

The area has been inhabited from at least Hittite times and probably earlier.

Iron Age

Assyrian period

It was later part of the Assyrian province of Quwê (Que). By the time of the Greeks, who knew the city as Megarsos/Magarso, there was a port here at the mouth of the navigable Pyramos, supplying an important military and trading route into the plain of Cilicia, and also providing access to the sea for the river towns, like Mallus.

Hellenstic period

In 333 BCE, just before the battle of Issus, Alexander the Great sacrificed here at a temple that, by interpretatio graeca, he took to be of Athena; the "Athena of Magarsos" who appears on Hellenistic coins has been diagnosed, from her pose and the attributes that surround her, to have Mesopotamian connections.^[5] Robin Lane Fox^[6] recognizes the origin of the cult site in the victories of Sennacherib, who instituted the shrine in 696 BCE following a sea battle with Greeks off the mouth of the river;^[7] he dedicated it to his martial goddess, Anat, or Ishtar.

Roman period and later

The Romans rendered Magarsos as Megarsus. The port was later conquered by the Arab armies during the growth of Islam and then later by the Seljuk Turks, various Turkoman principalities and eventually by the Ottomans in 1517.

Karataş was occupied by French troops during World War I. They were later expelled by Turkish militia forces during the Franco-Turkish War as part of the Turkish War of Independence.

Composition

There are 43 neighbourhoods in Karataş District:^[8]

• Adalı
• Ataköy
• Bahçe
• Bebeli
• Çağşırlı
• Çakırören
• Çavuşlu
• Çimeli
• Çukurkamış
• Damlapınar
• Develiören
• Dolaplı
• Gölyaka
• Hacıhasan
• Hasırağacı
• Helvacı
• İnnaplıhüyüğü
• İsahacılı
• Kapı
• Karagöçer
• Karataş
• Karşıyaka
• Kemaliye
• Kesik
• Kiremitli
• Kırhasan
• Kızıltahta
• Konaklı
• Meletmez
• Orta
• Oymaklı
• Sarımsaklı
• Sirkenli
• Tabaklar
• Terliksiz
• Topraklı
• Tuzkuyusu
• Tuzla
• Yassıören
• Yemişli
• Yeni
• Yenimurat
• Yüzbaşı

Climate

Karataş has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa),^[9] with hot, muggy, yet virtually rainless summers, and mild, rainy winters.

Climate data for Karataş (1991–2020)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	14.9 (58.8)	15.9 (60.6)	18.6 (65.5)	21.7 (71.1)	25.2 (77.4)	28.2 (82.8)	30.5 (86.9)	31.5 (88.7)	30.5 (86.9)	27.7 (81.9)	21.9 (71.4)	16.6 (61.9)	23.6 (74.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	10.2 (50.4)	11.3 (52.3)	14.3 (57.7)	17.6 (63.7)	21.5 (70.7)	25.1 (77.2)	27.6 (81.7)	28.6 (83.5)	26.6 (79.9)	22.6 (72.7)	16.4 (61.5)	11.8 (53.2)	19.5 (67.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	6.1 (43.0)	6.9 (44.4)	10.0 (50.0)	13.4 (56.1)	17.6 (63.7)	21.9 (71.4)	25.1 (77.2)	25.8 (78.4)	22.6 (72.7)	17.7 (63.9)	11.6 (52.9)	7.8 (46.0)	15.6 (60.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	135.1 (5.32)	116.83 (4.60)	62.94 (2.48)	38.59 (1.52)	33.93 (1.34)	12.11 (0.48)	4.77 (0.19)	4.52 (0.18)	19.7 (0.78)	50.81 (2.00)	111.95 (4.41)	187.4 (7.38)	778.65 (30.66)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	9.0	8.6	6.2	4.5	3.0	2.2	1.2	1.1	2.7	4.7	5.6	9.3	58.1
Average relative humidity (%)	63.1	63.3	64.9	68.5	70.3	72.3	73.7	71.8	65.3	59.6	56.5	63.0	66.1
Source: NOAA[10]

Places of interest

• The ruins of churches, caravanserai, and an amphitheatre. However the ancient monuments remain to date in lack of proper research or preservation.
• The inlet of Akyatan is a breeding ground for many birds and the sea turtle species Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta. Karataş is particularly important for the latter, which is an endangered species that lays eggs primarily in Akyatan, another beach in neighboring Yumurtalık district and İztuzu Beach in Dalyan in southwestern Turkey.

Karataş today

Today Karataş is known for its fishing industry and as a place that Adana's inhabitants can easily access to relax on the beach. There are also rich farmlands behind the coast where cotton, watermelons, melons and other crops are grown.

The well-known footballer Hasan Şaş is from Karataş and has a street named after him in memory of his excellent performance for Turkey national football team during the 2002 World Cup.

Brussels-based painter Nazife Can is also from Karataş.