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Kozan Castle
Kozan Castle (Medieval: Sis Castle ) is a castle in Kozan, Adana Province, Turkey. The castle is situated on a high hill at . high Kozan city is just to the north of the castle. All nearby castles (like Anavarza Castle and Yılankale) are observable from Kozan castle.Kozan Municipality page There is no record of fortifications at the site prior to the period.Robert W. Edwards, ''The Fortifications of Armenian Cilicia'', p234, 1987. In 705 an Arab attack on the town was repelled, but its Christian population later abandoned the settlement and Sis became a fortified frontier post of the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adana Province
Adana Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey located in central Cilicia. The administrative seat of the province is the city of Adana, home to 78.25% of the residents of the province. Its area is 13,844 km2, and its population is 2,274,106 (2022). It is also closely associated with other Cilician provinces of Mersin Province, Mersin, Osmaniye Province, Osmaniye, and (northern) Hatay Province, Hatay. Geography The southern and central portion of the province mostly falls within the Çukurova, Çukurova Plain (historically known as the Cilicia, Cilician Plain); to the north, the plains give way to the Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları''). The provinces adjacent to it are Mersin Province, Mersin to the west, Hatay Province, Hatay to the southeast, Osmaniye Province, Osmaniye to the east, Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş to the northeast, Kayseri Province, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran to the east; Iraq, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south; and the Aegean Sea, Greece, and Bulgaria to the west. Turkey is home to over 85 million people; most are ethnic Turkish people, Turks, while ethnic Kurds in Turkey, Kurds are the Minorities in Turkey, largest ethnic minority. Officially Secularism in Turkey, a secular state, Turkey has Islam in Turkey, a Muslim-majority population. Ankara is Turkey's capital and second-largest city. Istanbul is its largest city and economic center. Other major cities include İzmir, Bursa, and Antalya. First inhabited by modern humans during the Late Paleolithic, present-day Turkey was home to List of ancient peoples of Anatolia, various ancient peoples. The Hattians ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kozan, Adana
Kozan, formerly Sis (), is a municipality and district of Adana Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,903 km2, and its population is 132,703 (2022). It is northeast of Adana, in the northern section of the Çukurova plain. The Kilgen River, a tributary of the Ceyhan, flows through Kozan and crosses the plain south into the Mediterranean. The Taurus Mountains rise up sharply behind the town. Sis was the capital of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, today's Sis (ancient city), now called Kozan Kalesi, was built on a long rocky ridge in the center of the modern city. The population of the city has grown rapidly in recent years, from 15,159 in 1960, to 54,451 in 1990, to 72,463 in 2007 and to 74,521 in 2009 (census figures). Names The oldest known name is Sis or Siskia. Under the Roman Empire, it was for a time named Flavias or Flaviopolis. The Greek version of the older name, Σίσιον Sision, came back into use in the later Byzantine period. In Armenian, it is called Sis Սիս ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anavarza Castle
Anvarza Castle is an ancient castle in Adana Province, Turkey. Geography The castle lies to the east of Dilekkaya village of Kozan district. Visitors follow Turkish state highway D.400 and the highway to north for and turn to east for . Although the vicinity of the castle is Çukurova plains (Cilicia of the antiquity) which is almost flat, there is a hill with steep slopes of about high with respect to plains. The castle was built on the hill. The hill is accessible via a path from the south. History The castle had been built to control the ancient city with the same name. The remains of the city (which is on the plains) lies between the village and the castle. The bird's flight distance between the remains and the castle is about . During the history the castle had switched hands and partially ruined several times (Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Abbasid Caliphate, Crusaders, Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, Mamluks of Egypt etc.). Archaeological evidence indicates that the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yılankale
Yılankale ( in Turkish) is a late 12th–13th century Armenian castle in Adana Province of Turkey. It is known in Armenian as Levonkla ( "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. Architecture The walls, as well as the numerous horseshoe-shaped towers and vaulted chambers, are built with beautifully cut rusticated masonry and are carefully adapted to the coiling outcrop of limestone to create three baileys. The archaeological and historical assessment of this castle published in 1987 (with a scaled plan) describes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th centuryAD, it endured until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. The term 'Byzantine Empire' was coined only after its demise; its citizens used the term 'Roman Empire' and called themselves 'Romans'. During the early centuries of the Roman Empire, the western provinces were Latinised, but the eastern parts kept their Hellenistic culture. Constantine I () legalised Christianity and moved the capital to Constantinople. Theodosius I () made Christianity the state religion and Greek gradually replaced Latin for official use. The empire adopted a defensive strategy and, throughout its remaining history, experienced recurring cycles of decline and recovery. It reached its greatest extent un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes its name. After overthrowing the Umayyad Caliphate in the Abbasid Revolution of 750 CE (132 AH), they ruled as caliphs based in modern-day Iraq, with Baghdad being their capital for most of their history. The Abbasid Revolution had its origins and first successes in the easterly region of Khurasan, far from the Levantine center of Umayyad influence. The Abbasid Caliphate first centered its government in Kufa, modern-day Iraq, but in 762 the caliph al-Mansur founded the city of Baghdad as the new capital. Baghdad became the center of science, culture, arts, and invention in what became known as the Golden Age of Islam. By housing several key academic institutions, including the House of Wisdom, as well as a multiethnic and multi- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nikephoros II Phokas
Nikephoros II Phokas (; – 11 December 969), Latinized Nicephorus II Phocas, was Byzantine emperor from 963 to 969. His career, not uniformly successful in matters of statecraft or of war, nonetheless greatly contributed to the resurgence of the Byzantine Empire during the 10th century. In the east, Nikephoros completed the conquest of Cilicia and retook the islands of Crete and Cyprus, opening the path for subsequent Byzantine incursions reaching as far as Upper Mesopotamia and the Levant; these campaigns earned him the sobriquet "pale death of the Saracens". Early life and career Nikephoros Phokas was born around 912. From his paternal side, he belonged to the Phokas family which had produced several distinguished generals, including Nikephoros' father Bardas Phokas, brother Leo Phokas, and grandfather Nikephoros Phokas the Elder, who had all served as commanders of the field army ('' domestikos tōn scholōn''). From his maternal side he belonged to the Maleinoi, a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thoros I, Prince Of Armenia
Toros I (), also Thoros I, (unknown – 1129 / February 17, 1129 – February 16, 1130) was the third lord of Armenian Cilicia ( 1100 / 1102 / 1103 – 1129 / 1130). His life Toros was the elder son of Constantine I, lord of Armenian Cilicia. In 1107, encouraged by Tancred, Prince of Antioch, Toros followed the course of the Pyramus River (today the river ''Ceyhan'' in Turkey), and seized the strongholds of Anazarbus (a place which had been considered impregnable) and Sis (ancient city).Kurkjian 1958, p. 219 Toros extensively rebuilt the fortifications at both fortresses with tall circuit walls and massive round towers. A beautifully executed dedicatory inscription on the church (dated ca. A.D.1111) records his triumph, and most importantly, traces his Rubenid genealogy. In 1111, Sultan Malik Shah of Konya entered Armenian territories. Levon saved the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Litt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armenian Kingdom Of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia, also known as Cilician Armenia, Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia, was an Armenian state formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia., pp. 630–631. Located outside the Armenian Highlands and distinct from the Kingdom of Armenia of antiquity, it was centered in the Cilicia region northwest of the Gulf of Alexandretta. The kingdom had its origins in the principality founded by the Rubenid dynasty, an alleged offshoot of the larger Bagratuni dynasty, which at various times had held the throne of Armenia. Their capital was originally at Tarsus, and later moved to Sis. Cilicia was a strong ally of the European Crusaders, and saw itself as a bastion of Christendom in the East. It also served as a focal point for Armenian cultural production, since Armenia proper was under foreign occupation at the time. Cilicia's si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)
The Mamluk Sultanate (), also known as Mamluk Egypt or the Mamluk Empire, was a state that ruled medieval Egypt, Egypt, the Levant and the Hejaz from the mid-13th to early 16th centuries, with Cairo as its capital. It was ruled by a military caste of mamluks (freed slave soldiers) headed by a sultan. The sultanate was established with the overthrow of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt in 1250 and was Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–1517), conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517. Mamluk history is generally divided into the Turkic peoples, Turkic or Bahri Mamluks, Bahri period (1250–1382) and the Circassians, Circassian or Burji Mamluks, Burji period (1382–1517), called after the predominant ethnicity or corps of the ruling Mamluks during these respective eras. The first rulers of the sultanate hailed from the mamluk regiments of the Ayyubid sultan as-Salih Ayyub (), usurping power from his successor in 1250. The Mamluks under Sultan Qutuz and Baybars Battle of Ain Jalut, routed the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte-and-bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England, Portugal, south Italy and Sicily. As a result of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, use spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries, including Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take a decade or more t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
