Pozantı (Greek: Πενδοσις, romanized: Pendhòsis, formerly Arabic: الْبَدَندُون, romanized: el-Bedendûn) is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey.[2] Its area is 899 km2,[3] and its population is 19,852 (2022).[1] The town is in the highlands of Çukurova, and is a major gateway to the Mediterranean coasts. Pozantı stands in the foothills, at the bottom of one of the few passes through the mountains. The mayor is Ali Avan (MHP).
History
Pozantı has had a number of names. In antiquity it was Pendonsis or Pendosis, to the Arabs El Bedendum, and finally Bozantı and Pozantı in Turkish.
Pozantı is windy and bleak, and for most of its history was a fort and a road-house, but more people began to live in the area permanently when a railway was built in 1917. However, passing trade on the road is still a major driver of the local economy.
Pozantı was briefly occupied by French forces at the end of World War I.
As the gateway to Çukurova, Pozantı is a stopping point for several coach companies that operate routes from Central Anatolia to Çukurova and further east.
Landmarks
The only historical building in the city center is the mosque and fountain of Ottoman general Cemal Paşa, built in 1919 and since repaired and extended. At the entrance to the pass are the old and new castles of Anhşa.
The Casemates of İbrahim Pasha, the remains of a 19th-century fort, are located on the hill named Tekir, next to the modern highway D.750. The ruins of the Byzantine town of Fenese lay near the village of Aşçıbekirli. More ruins have been found near the village of Kamışlı in the high meadows (yayla) of Ören and Asar.