Tece Castle () is a ruined castle in

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 ...

, southern

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 ...

Location

The castle is in the Tece suburb of

Mezitli Mezitli is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 371 km2, and its population is 225,824 (2024). It covers the westernmost part of the city of Mersin and the adjacent countryside. The Mayor of Mezitli is Ahmet Ser ...

which is a secondary municipality of

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 ...

. Its distance to Mersin city center is about . Although it is close to the state highway D.400, it is difficult to visit the castle by motor vehicle because it is situated in a citrus plantation.

History

There is no record about the origin of the castle. However, judging from the architecture, it was probably a late

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

or a

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 ...

castle. It was a low elevation castle, and it was built to control the road running parallel to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

coast. It was also used by the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

and

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 ...

, during which the castle underwent renovation. In June 1981 the American archaeologist and art historian Dr. Robert W. Edwards conducted a formal survey of this site and drew the following conclusions. The rectangular circuit wall and the fragments of its seven small towers were so badly decayed that it was impossible without a formal excavation to deduce the date of construction. However, the surviving portion of the three-storey estate house (keep) is primarily from one period of construction with masonry and architectural features identical to those used during the 12th and 13th centuries in the

. It is similar to the nearby medieval site of Kız near the Durak railway station. These sites were built by Armenian masons, perhaps for Crusader occupants.

Architecture

The area within the now ruined ramparts is . Most of the buildings are ruined. The only partially standing building is a three-story

donjon 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 residenc ...

. The length of the eastern wall is and its height is . The northern wall is long and high. The width of the outer wall is .Hasan Buyruk Kafkas University bulletin
/ref> The masonry of the inner walls is of

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

blocks and the outer walls of

bossage Bossage is uncut stone that is laid in place in a building, projecting outward from the building, to later be carved into decorative moldings, capitals, arms, etc. Bossages are also rustic work, consisting of stones which seem to advance beyond ...

blocks.Mersin Governorship: ''Mersin Ören Yerleri Kaleleri Müzeleri'' ("Mersin Ruins, castles and museums"), p.65 The 1981 survey was conducted under the auspices of the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

.Carefully documented photographs and plan of Tece Castle
/ref>

References

{{Castles in Turkey Mersin Castles in Mersin Province Mezitli District Ruined castles in Turkey Byzantine fortifications in Turkey

Location

History

Architecture

See also

References