The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass (Turkish: Gülek Boğazı) form the main pass through the Taurus Mountains of southern Turkey, connecting the low plains of Cilicia and the Mediterranean coast with the high central plateau of Anatolia. Their southern opening is 44 km north of Tarsus. The Gates are the narrow gorge of 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 part of the army of the First Crusade all passed through the Cilician Gates, the site of the medieval fortress of Baberon (or Barbaron).
When German engineers were working on the railroad link between Haydarpaşa Terminal in Istanbul, at the shore of the Sea of Marmara 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.
