Photo: Nidayi (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Source Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Complex
A complex built in the 16th century by the architect Mimar Sinan, including a caravanserai, bath, madrasa, mosque and bedesten.
View on map5 places to visit in the Payas district of Hatay: Sokullu Mehmet Paşa Complex, Payas Kalesi (Cin Kulesi) and Payas Coast. Plan your trip to Payas with local food, practical tips and transport information.
History
Payas was known as Baias in ancient times, and was later called Bayyas, Bayas and finally Payas. In 622, the great battle between the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and the Persian King Khosrow II took place at Payas. It is known that the First Crusaders set out from Anatolia via Payas, and the Cin Tower is believed to have been built as a lookout in the 13th century.
Ottoman Period and Modernisation
Payas Castle, together with its caravanserai and port, held strategic importance for a long period. Payas, a farming and horticultural town until the 1970s, grew rapidly with the establishment of the İskenderun Iron and Steel Works, and its population rose from 7,000 to 25,000.
History and Culture
Payas was known as Baias in ancient times. The First Crusades are known to have set out from Anatolia via Payas. The great battle between the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius and the Persian King Khosrow II in 622 is recorded as having taken place at Payas. The Ottomans turned Payas Castle into its present-day castle and moat between 1567 and 1571. Payas came under Ottoman rule with Yavuz Sultan Selim’s Egyptian campaign. In 1939, with the joining of Hatay to the motherland, Payas was attached to Hatay. Payas became a district on 12 November 2012, having been a subdistrict attached to Dörtyol. The Turkmen culture and traditions live on in the district.
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