Tokmar Castle

The castle is in the rural area of Silifke district of Mersin Province at 36°15′24″N 33°46′14″E. It is on a plateau at the southern slopes of Toros Mountains overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The altitude is 380 metres (1,250 ft) and the birds' flight distance to sea shore is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) which makes the castle an excellent observation point. The distance to main highway (D 400) is 4 kilometres (2.5 mi), to Silifke is 33 kilometres (21 mi) and to Mersin is 116 kilometres (72 mi).

The castle was built by Byzantine Empire in the 12th century. Later on, it was captured by the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. In 1210, it was incorporated into the realm of Knights Hospitaller. It was later on captured by the Karamanids and finally by the Ottoman Empire in the late 15th century.

There are sharp cliffs at the south of the castle . But other sides are quite unprotected. Thus there are defense towers at the north. Although most of the walls stand, the buildings in the castle have since been completely demolished.

Text adapted from “Tokmar Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Tokmar Castle ranks #5,820 of 8,134 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #81 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded c. 1150, it is older than 81% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 564 atlas entries founded in the 12th century. 2 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Mersin, 97 km away. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗