Seleucia Tracheotis

Seleucia Tracheotis, Greek Seleukeia, city in Cilicia (in present-day southern Turkey), on the Calycadnus River (modern Goksu Nehri), a few miles from that stream’s mouth; the site was doubtless selected as a protection against attacks from the sea. There are ruins of a castle on the acropolis, and the city fortifications, a large rock-cut tank, and an extensive necropolis are all well preserved. The city was at one time a port serving Isauria and was entitled to strike its own coinage. It was built near an old site by Seleucus I, the founder of the Seleucid kingdom. During the Third Crusade, the Holy Roman emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was drowned in crossing the river at this point (ad 1190). The city was captured by the Turks in the 13th century. The site is now occupied by the town of Silifke, Turkey.