Belen (Hatay)

Template: Infobox city in Turkey / Maintenance / County

Belen is a town in the Turkish province of Hatay. At the same Belen is the capital of the district of the same name. The city has 21 936 and the county 28,950 inhabitants ( 2010). Belen is located in the southern part of the Amanosberge. Highest point Belen is the Çobandede with 1722 m.

1552 Sultan Suleiman I put the foundation stone for the first settlement called Tepecik. The place was a few miles south of İskenderun at the site of the Syrian Gate ( also called Beilan pass ) was founded. The gate was an important passage between Cilicia and Syria. Tepecik should be a stopover on a new route between Aleppo and Iskenderun. In the reports of the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi in 1648 lingered here, the place was already Belen. The word Belen probably comes from the Greek word for door ( Pylan ). 1770 more people were settled there and called the place Beylan. In 1885 the mayor's office was set up (tr. Belediye ). The Turkish highway D817 ( European route 91) runs from İskenderun through the gate to Antakya.