Kızkalesi

Kızkalesi (from Turkish: "Maiden's Castle", also known as Deniz kalesi) is an island castle situated on a small island in Mersin Province of Turkey.

The ancient name of the island was Crambusa (Greek: Γραμβούσσα, Gramvoussa). At 36°27′23″N 34°08′53″E it is about 300 metres (980 ft) off shore in the Mediterranean Sea. The total area of the island is about 15,000 square metres (160,000 sq ft) and the castle covers most of this area. Kızkalesi, the town facing the island in the main land which shares the same name as the island is 23 kilometres (14 mi) to Erdemli (district center) and 60 kilometres (37 mi) to Mersin (province center).

According to Strabo, the island was used by the pirates in the ancient age. But the castle was probably built by Alexios I Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire after the First Crusade. It was extensively rebuilt in the 13th century by Leo I and at least one subsequent monarch of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Archaeological surveys published in 1982 and 1987 found that the original Byzantine plan survives primarily at the south with the characteristic square towers. The Armenians rebuilt the north and west sides of the castle with their distinctive rusticated ashlar masonry (not spolia from the late antique city) and round towers.

They also put new facing stone on most of the Greek construction. Two Armenian inscriptions reportedly mention the rebuilding of this site by King Leo I (1206) and King Het‛um I (1251). The Armenians also built a barrel vaulted chapel inside the fort. The island was once connected to the mainland fort, Corycus castle, by a breakwater. The Armenians called this fortress Gorygos (Կոռիկոս).In the 14th century the Cilician Kingdom was on the verge of collapse and in 1360 Peter I of Cyprus captured the island at the request of the inhabitants. The castle was captured by İbrahim II of Karaman of the Karamanids, an Anatolian beylik, in 1448, and by Gedik Ahmet Pasha of the Ottoman Empire in 1471. The name Gorygos was changed to Kızkalesi.

The total length of the rampart is 192 metres (630 ft). The south and the west walls are perpendicular to each other. The north and east sides are surrounded by a curved rampart.

The main gate is on the north side and there is a minor gate and a gallery on the west side. There are 8 bastions each with a unique shape.

Text adapted from “Kızkalesi (castle)” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kızkalesi ranks #1,307 of 7,738 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #28 of the 126 mapped in Turkey. Founded 1104, it is older than 86% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 544 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 4,542 times in the last 60 days, more than 83% of the atlas. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Mersin, 57 km away. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗