City
Alexandria Catisson
Esentepe in der Stadt İskenderun
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Alexandria Catisson keeps a Greek phrase in its name, meaning Alexandria by Issos, and the town was perhaps founded by or in honour of Alexander the Great after his victory there. The harbour town is İskenderun in Turkey today. It lay on the border between Cilicia and Syria, and neither the map nor the ancient writers settle which province it belonged to. A pilgrim's route from Bordeaux gives it an unkind nickname, Alexandria Scabiosa, the scabby one, usually taken as a hint at leprosy. Beneath the modern city lie Roman streets, cisterns, mosaic floors and a large olive oil factory.