With its gazinos and restaurants along the water, Yenişehir Gölü is described by the metropolitan municipality as the finest place for rest and recreation in the Amik area.
The lake has a long history around it. In Roman times a settlement called İmma stood near it, in what is now Yenişehir Mahallesi. In the 12th century AD wars and fires badly damaged İmma, and the earthquake of 1171 destroyed it completely; remains from that period can still be seen in the neighbourhood.
The lake is in Reyhanlı district, 4 kilometres from the town centre. It is small, about 20 decares or roughly two hectares, reaches a depth of 8 metres at most and is fed by groundwater. Leaks once put it in danger of drying out, so the bed was filled, lined with a membrane and finally concreted to stop the water seeping away. In 2019 it was registered as a natural site and a qualified natural protection area. Today its shores are laid out for picnics, with a bridge, tea gardens and natural stretches, and boat trips run on the water.
When to go
- Climate
- Across Hatay as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 8.1 °C in January to 27.9 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in April, May, June and October; rainfall is heaviest in January (197 mm) and lightest in July (16 mm). Long-term means for 1940-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
