Mersin [coverattach=1]This article is about the city of Mersin, see Mersin Province, (named İçel province until 2002), for information about the surrounding area. Mersin is a large city and a busy port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey and is the capital of the Mersin Province History This coast has been inhabited since the 9th millennium BC. Excavations by John Garstang of the hill of Yümüktepe have revealed 23 levels of occupation, the earliest dating from ca. 6300 BC. A fortification was put up around 4500 BC, but the site appears to have been abandoned between 3200 BC and 1200 BC.
