Turkey · 13th century
Yılankale (lit. 'snake castle' in Turkish) is a late 12th–13th century Armenian castle in Adana Province of Turkey. It is known in Armenian as Levonkla (Լևոնկլա "Levon's fortress") after its possible founder—King Leo (Levon) I the Magnificent (r. 1198/9–1219) of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Medieval Armenian names attached to the site are Kovara and Vaner.
A hill castle, Yılankale is located on a rocky hill overlooking the east bank of the Ceyhan River, and the Bronze and Iron Age site of Sirkeli Höyük, six kilometers west of the town of Ceyhan. The building is locally known as the home of Shahmaran, a mythical creature half woman and half snake.
Text adapted from “Yılankale” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Yılankale ranks #2,308 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #43 of the 129 mapped in Turkey. Founded c. 1275, it is older than 65% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 1080 atlas entries founded in the 13th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,776 times in the last 60 days, more than 76% of the atlas. The nearest day-trip guide is Adana, 38 km away. See how Turkey compares in the castle statistics.
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