Tarsus is the birthplace of St Paul and one of the most surprising stops on a biblical journey through Türkiye, simply because hardly anyone knows it. It lies on the Cilician plain between Mersin and Adana, and in half a day you can see the well of Paul's family home, the church-museum that bears his name, Cleopatra's Gate, a stretch of Roman street with its paving stones and drains, and a waterfall right in the city.
It isn't a grand archaeological site but a living city built on layers of history, which is why it makes far more sense with a guide. Here is what I show my travellers.
A little history
Tarsus already existed in Hittite times and was the capital of Cilicia under the Persians, the Seleucids and the Romans. In antiquity it had a famous school of learning, which the geographer Strabo compared with those of Athens and Alexandria. In 41 BC Cleopatra sailed up the River Cydnus in her purple-sailed barge to meet Mark Antony, a scene told by Plutarch and later by Shakespeare. Paul was born here around AD 5, a Roman citizen and the son of a Jewish family of tentmakers.
The city went on to be Byzantine, Arab, Armenian, Crusader and Ottoman, and each layer left something behind. Today it is a busy provincial city with a restored old quarter around its monuments.
What to see in Tarsus
St Paul's Well
In a courtyard surrounded by the remains of Roman houses stands a stone well that tradition places in the house of Paul's family. The water, they say, never runs dry, and pilgrims drink it. Beneath the courtyard you can see walls and a section of ancient street.
St Paul's Church
A 19th-century Orthodox church with frescoes of the Evangelists on the ceiling, now a museum (the St Paul Memorial Museum) that is still used for services on special occasions, including the saint's feast day in June. The Vatican recognises it as a place of pilgrimage, and the Pauline Year of 2008–09 filled it with visitors.
Cleopatra's Gate
A restored Roman gate from the city walls, which tradition links with Cleopatra's arrival. It stands on an avenue in the centre and you walk under it in a minute; the story takes longer than the visit.
The Roman street and the old town
A stretch of Roman colonnaded avenue uncovered in the 1990s, with basalt paving stones, a drain running beneath it and the ruts left by cart wheels, several metres below today's street level. Around it are restored courtyard houses, the Ulu Cami (Great Mosque), built over a church, and the tomb that tradition attributes to the Prophet Daniel, beneath a mosque, with a sarcophagus you can see through a glass panel in the floor.
The waterfall and the bazaar
In the north of the city the Cydnus (today the Berdan) drops over a waterfall several metres high, with cafés all around; tradition says this is where Alexander the Great fell ill after bathing in its icy water. Then there's the bazaar, with hummus served hot, tantuni (finely chopped beef wrapped in flatbread, a local invention) and the sweets of the region, such as cezerye.
Tips for your visit
Allow half a day. Everything is in the centre, flat and walkable, except the waterfall, ten minutes away by car.
- The well and the church are best in the morning, when the pilgrims come; the bazaar, at lunchtime.
- Dress modestly in the church and at Daniel's tomb, which is a working mosque.
- If you're travelling with children, the Roman street with its cart ruts and the waterfall go down best.
Tickets and prices
At the time of writing (2026), the St Paul Memorial Museum (the church) costs €5 under the official 2027 rates; the well has a small entrance fee and everything else is free. On my tours, entrance tickets are either included or handled by your guide.
How to get there
Tarsus is 30 kilometres from Mersin and 40 from Adana, on the motorway that links them: half an hour from either city. Çukurova International Airport (COV), which has served Mersin and Adana since 2024, is about 20 kilometres away. Regional trains also run from both cities.
How I include it in my tours
It isn't part of the standard itinerary of Biblical and Spiritual Türkiye, whose last stage is Cappadocia, but for anyone following St Paul it is the natural addition: from Cappadocia the road runs south through the Taurus Mountains to Tarsus and on to Antioch. It is also a half-day trip on the Cilicia routes I describe in Mersin, Kızkalesi and Tarsus and in Adana.
If you're following in St Paul's footsteps, tell me when you plan your tailor-made trip and I'll prepare the full route for you.