Mamure Castle

tr, Mamure kalesi) is a medieval castle in the Bozdoğan, Anamur, Bozdogan village,

Anamur Anamur is a town and district in Mersin Province, Turkey, the westernmost district of that province, bordering on Antalya Province. Anamur contains Anatolia's southernmost point, It is a coastal resort known for its bananas and peanuts. Etym ...

ilçe The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the ''kaza''. Most provinces bear the same name as their respectiv ...

(district) of

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of f ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

Geography

The castle is on the Mediterranean coast about , on the D400 highway, east of Anamur and west of

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and district governorates: Akdeniz, Mezitl ...

History

The castle was built by the rulers of the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...

on the foundations of a fourth-century

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

castle. Designed to protect against pirates, it was repaired during the

Byzantine era The Byzantine calendar, also called the Roman calendar, the Creation Era of Constantinople or the Era of the World ( grc, Ἔτη Γενέσεως Κόσμου κατὰ Ῥωμαίους, also or , abbreviated as ε.Κ.; literal translation of ...

and during the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

. When Alaattin Keykubat I of

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; fa, سلجوقیان ''Saljuqian'', alternatively spelled as Seljuqs or Saljuqs), also known as Seljuk Turks, Seljuk Turkomans "The defeat in August 1071 of the Byzantine emperor Romanos Diogenes by the Turk ...

captured the ruins of the castle in 1221, he built a larger castle using elements of the earlier fortifications. Later, it was controlled by the

Karamanid dynasty The Karamanids ( tr, Karamanoğulları or ), also known as the Emirate of Karaman and Beylik of Karaman ( tr, Karamanoğulları Beyliği), was one of the Anatolian beyliks, centered in South-Central Anatolia around the present-day Karaman Pro ...

(which was a Turkmen principality in

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

). Although the exact date is uncertain, according to an inscription by

İbrahim II of Karaman Ibrahim II (died 1464) was a bey of Karaman. Background During the post- Seljuk era in the second half of the 13th century, numerous Turkoman principalities, which are collectively known as the Anatolian beyliks, emerged in Anatolia. Initially ...

in 1450, the castle was captured during

Mahmut Mahmud is a transliteration of the male Arabic given name (), common in most parts of the Islamic world. It comes from the Arabic triconsonantal root Ḥ-M-D, meaning ''praise'', along with ''Muhammad''. Siam Mahmud *Mahmood (singer) (born 19 ...

's reign (1300–1311). The castle was renamed as ''Mamure'' (prosperous) after repairs by Mahmut. In 1469, the castle was annexed by the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

. It was subsequently repaired in the 15th, 16th and 18th centuries and a part of the castle was used as a

caravansarai A caravanserai (or caravansary; ) was a roadside inn where travelers ( caravaners) could rest and recover from the day's journey. Caravanserais supported the flow of commerce, information and people across the network of trade routes covering ...

Architecture

The castle is surrounded by moat. Its 39 towers and bastions are connected by wide ramparts. The castle has three main courtyards; to the west, the east and the south. The western courtyard contains a small complex of a single minaret

mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

and a ruined

Turkish bath A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

. The southern courtyard has the remains of a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

Cultural depiction

This castle appears to be the Kalendria on the coast of Cilicia depicted by William Henry Bartlett in 1836. See external links below for the image and an associated poetical illustration by

Letitia Elizabeth Landon Letitia Elizabeth Landon (14 August 1802 – 15 October 1838) was an English poet and novelist, better known by her initials L.E.L. The writings of Landon are transitional between Romanticism and the Victorian Age. Her first major breakthrough ...

. (However, the name Kalendria refers to Kalenderis, what is now Aydıncık, another town about 60 km east of Mamure)

Gallery

File:1838-38-Kalendria,_Coast_of_Cilicia.png, 1838-38 Kalendria on the Coast of Cilicia File:Anamur Castle Main tower view 8714.jpg, Anamur Castle Main tower view File:Anamur Castle Main tower view 8716 Panorama.jpg, Anamur Castle Main tower view File:Anamur Castle Main tower view 8725.jpg, Anamur Castle Main tower view File:Anamur Castle Outer castle 8660 Panorama 2.jpg, Anamur Castle Outer castle Panorama File:Anamur Castle North side 8557.jpg, Anamur Castle North side File:Anamur Castle Sea side 8744.jpg, Anamur Castle Sea side File:Anamur Castle Inner courtyard 8596 Panorama.jpg, Anamur Castle Inner courtyard Panorama

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20011021064228/http://www.anamur.gen.tr/eng/indx.htm
extensive photo series about the castleMany Mamure Castle photos from after the renovation works
* . An engraving of Bartlett's painting with a poetical illustration by

for Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838. {{Authority control Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia Forts in Turkey Castles in Turkey Castles in Mersin Province World Heritage Tentative List for Turkey Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Karamanids