Çamlıyayla is a municipality and

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

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, Armen ...

. Its area is 602 km², and its population is 8,164 (2022). Çamlıyayla is a small district high in the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...

. In summer the lakes, streams and pine forests of Çamlıyayla attract many visitors, people from

Adana Adana is a large city in southern Turkey. The city is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the northeastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the administrative seat of the Adana Province, Adana province, and has a population of 1 81 ...

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

and Tarsus escaping from the extreme heat on the coast to summer homes up in the hills (see yayla). Çamlıyayla is a quiet rural area without the wild nightlife to entertain young people and is therefore popular with families and the retired, typically children stay in the hills with their grandparents while their parents are at work in the city; in the school holiday period the population of the district rises to over 100,000. The cuisine includes a slushed ice called ''karsambaç'', the ancestor of ice cream, very refreshing in summer. There is a mountain goat breeding centre in Çamlıyayla and people go there to hunt for wild boar, rabbits and sandgrouse. At higher altitudes, the district is bare mountainside, above the tree line.

History

The early history of the area is unknown but these hills must have been occupied from the earliest times. By the late 11th century, the area was briefly controlled by the

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 E ...

empire, but was briefly conquered by the

Seljuk Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turks, Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate society, Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persi ...

in 1081. Near the edge of the town is the sprawling Hetʽumid castle of Lampron, an Armenian construction of the 11th and 12th centuries, which has a few structural remains from the earlier late antique and Byzantine periods. The residential chambers at the northwest are especially impressive with their well-cut ashlar masonry. This site guarded a strategic route from Cappadocia to the

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 ...

. Subsequently, the castle was brought into the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

and was the scene of fighting between the Ottomans and the

Mamluks Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-sold ...

Composition

There are 14

neighbourhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

in Çamlıyayla District:Mahalle
Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023. *

Bağçatağı Bağçatağı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 107 (2022). It is situated in the Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları ...

Belçınar Belçınar is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 574 (2022). It is situated in the Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' ...

* Çayırekinliği * Cumayakası *

Darıpınarı Darıpınarı is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 671 (2022). It is situated in the Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları ...

* Fakılar *

Giden Giden is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 122 (2022). It is situated in Toros Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek'':'' ...

* Kale * Kesecik *

Körmenlik Körmenlik is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çamlıyayla, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its population is 254 (2022). It is situated in the Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' ...

* Korucak * Sarıkavak * Sarıkoyak *

Sebil A sabil or sebil (; ) is a small kiosk in the Islamic architectural tradition where water is freely dispensed to members of the public by an attendant behind a grilled window. The term is sometimes also used to refer to simple unmanned fountain ...

References

External links

District's official website

Municipality's official website

Carefully documented photographic survey and plan of Lampron Castle/ Çamlıyayla
Populated places in Çamlıyayla District Yaylas in Turkey Districts of Mersin Province Metropolitan district municipalities in Turkey {{Mersin-geo-stub