Arsuz

History

Arsuz had many names throughout history, including: Rhosus, Rhossos, Rhossus, Rhopolis, Port Panel/Bonnel, Kabev and Arsous. The earliest documents about it date from the Seleucid Empire, of whose Antioch became the capital. Malalas writes that the city was founded by Cilix, son of Agenor. Harpalus set up a bronze statue of Glycera at Rhosus. Demetrius I of Macedon moved the statue of the goddess Tyche from Antigoneia to Rhosus. Ptolemy, Pliny the Elder and Stephanus of Byzantium; and later by Hierocles and George of Cyprus. Some Christians in Rhosus accepted as truth the Docetic Gospel of Peter and for them in around AD 200 Serapion of Antioch composed a treatise condemning the book. Theodoret relates the history of the hermit Theodosius of Antioch, founder of a monastery in the mountain near Rhosus, who was forced by the inroads of barbarians to retire to Antioch, where he died and was succeeded by his disciple Romanus, a native of Rhosus; these two religious are honoured by the Greek Orthodox Church on 5 and 9 February. Between 1918 and 1938 the town was under French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon with the rest of Iskenderun district. In 1938, it became part of the independent Hatay Republic, but in June 1939 the Hatay legislature voted to join Turkey. The district Arsuz was created in 2013 from part of the district of İskenderun.

Geography

The town center of Arsuz is located South of İskenderun and from Antakya (administrative center of Hatay Province). While the town center is relatively small near the end of a coastal road leading south from İskenderun, the entire coastal region between İskenderun and the town center is often simply referred as Arsuz. This area is predominantly small rural farms (generally located inland towards the mountains) and small groups of summer homes (generally located near the coastline).

Most-observed species

• White-spectacled Bulbul

  Pycnonotus xanthopygos (Hemprich & Ehrenberg, 1833) · Aves
  27
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  20
• Common Chiffchaff

  Phylloscopus collybita (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  16
• Laughing Dove

  Spilopelia senegalensis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  15
• European Greenfinch

  Chloris chloris (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  14
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  13
• Delicate Prinia

  Prinia lepida Blyth, 1844 · Aves
  12
• European Serin

  Serinus serinus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  12

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2026-02-20
  2 km SW of Kırıkhan, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-12-17
  17 km NNE of Kırıkhan, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-12-15
  3 km S of Günyazı, Turkey
• M 3.6 — 2025-11-07
  1 km WSW of Samankaya, Turkey
• M 4.1 — 2025-04-03
  6 km NNW of Toygarlı, Turkey
• M 4.2 — 2025-01-10
  11 km SW of Büyükçat, Turkey