The Cilician Gates of wic (Turkish Külek Boazi or Gulek Bogazi) form the main passage through the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey. Their southern opening is 27.5 mi. [44 km.] north of Tarsus. The Cilician Gates link the low plains of Cilicia and the Mediterranean coast with the high central plateau of Anatolia. The Gates are the narrow gorge through which flows the Gökoluk River. The ancient track was a track for mule caravans, not wheeled vehicles. The Army of the Ten Thousand, Alexander the Great before the Battle of Issus, Paul of Tarsus on his way to the Galatians, and the knights of the First Crusade all passed through the Cilician Gates. In a range of hills, or especially of mountains, a pass (also gap, notch, col, saddle, bwlch or bealach) is a lower point that allows easier access through the range. ... The Taurus Mountains (Taurus=bull in greek) (Turkish Toros, also known as Ala-Dagh or Bulghar-Dagh) are a mountain range in Eastern Anatolian plateau, from which the Euphrates (Turkish Fırat) River descends into Syria. ... Tarsus is a city in present day Turkey, on the mouth of the Tarsus Cay (Cydnus) into the Mediterranean. ... Cilicia as Roman province, 120 AD In Antiquity, Cilicia (Κιλικία) was the name of a region, now known as Çukurova, and often a political unit, on the southeastern coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), north of Cyprus. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... Anatolia lies east of the Bosphorus, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Anatolia (or Anatolian Peninsula) is a region of Southwest Asia which corresponds today to the Asiatic portion of Turkey, as opposed to the European portion, the Thrace. ... The Ten Thousand were a group of mercenary units, mainly Greek, drawn up by Cyrus the Younger to attempt to wrest the throne of the Persian Empire from his brother, Artaxerxes II. Their march to the Battle of Cunaxa and back to Greece (401 BC-399 BC) was recorded by... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of, if not the most successful military commanders in history. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article is becoming very long. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The First Crusade was launched in 1095 by Pope Urban II with the stated goal of capturing the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslims. ...

When German engineers were working on the railroad link between the shore of the Sea of Marmara opposite Constantinople and Baghdad, they were unable to follow the steep-pitched, narrow, and tightly winding ancient track through the pass. The series of viaducts and tunnels they built are among the marvels of railroad engineering. The route was opened in 1918; the narrow-gauge working line moved Turkish troops and war material to the Mesopotamian front in the closing months of World War I. Map of the Sea of Marmara Satellite view of the Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara (Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Modern Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίδα) (also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea) is an inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating the... Map of Constantinople. ... Baghdad ( translit: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ... This article is about the edifice. ... Combatants Allied Powers: France Italy Russia Serbia United Kingdom United States Central Powers: Austria-Hungary Bulgaria Germany Ottoman Empire Commanders Ferdinand Foch Georges Clemenceau Victor Emmanuel III Luigi Cadorna Nicholas II Aleksei Brusilov Herbert Henry Asquith Douglas Haig John Jellicoe Woodrow Wilson John Pershing Wilhelm II Paul von Hindenburg Reinhard...

External link

• Railroad engineering through the Cilician Gates