Iskenderun

İskenderun, also known as Alexandretta, is a city in Hatay, Mediterranean Turkey. It’s located on the coast of Mediterranean Sea.

Understand

This is one of the few still-existing cities in the world which was founded by, and indeed gets its name from Alexander the Great (who is known as Büyük İskender in Turkish), with Alexandria in Egypt being the other notable example. İskenderun today has a population of about 300,000 people and is an industrialized city, surrounded by petrochemical plants and steelworks, although the city centre is still enjoyable with its lovely palm-lined promenade on the shore of the sea.

Get in

By air

Nearest airport for international flights is located in Adana to the north. For domestic flights, Hatay Airport located in the outskirts of Antakya to the south (45 min driving) is another possibility alongside Adana Airport.

By train

The national operator TCDD runs regional trains from Mersin via Adana twice daily, one morning and one late afternoon departure. The railway station, 🌍 İskenderun Garı is located at the end of İstasyon road, east of the city centre.

By car

The city is connected to the rest of Turkey by the motorway numbered O-53 (toll-road). The southward road towards Antakya and Syria is also well-paved but windy when crossing the mountain range inbetween.

Get around

There are no dolmuşes in Iskenderun, and though there may be city buses, they're not easy for one to figure out with no Turkish. The center of town is walkable, however to get from the town center to the bus station, you're best off taking a taxi, which should cost about 10-15 TL.

See

🌍 Iskenderun Naval Museum (İskenderun Deniz Müzesi), Atatürk Blv. contains artifacts from the Ottoman navy, and a room dedicated to the reincorporation of Hatay (for several decades ruled by France) into Turkey. Admission 8 TL, photography license 10 TL. (updated Oct 2017)
On the waterfront, there is a big globe surrounded by flags of Turkic countries, and a park with a number of interesting structures.

Do

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

🌍 La Perla Boutique Hotel, Savaş Mahallesi, 47, ☎ +90 326 616 66 68. (updated Oct 2017)
🌍 Ramada İskenderun Harbour, 5 Temmuz Cad. No:42, ☎ +90 326 617 81 81. (updated Oct 2017)

Connect

The telephone code of İskenderun is 326 (dial +90 326 when calling from out of Turkey).

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