Kızkalesi (from Turkish: "Maiden's Castle", also known as Deniz kalesi) is an island castle situated on a small island in Mersin Province of Turkey.
According to Strabo, the island was used by the pirates in the ancient age. But the castle was probably built by Alexios I Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire after the First Crusade.[1] It was extensively rebuilt in the 13th century by Leo I and at least one subsequent monarch of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.[2] Archaeological surveys published in 1982 and 1987 found that the original Byzantine plan survives primarily at the south with the characteristic square towers. The Armenians rebuilt the north and west sides of the castle with their distinctive rusticated ashlar masonry (not spolia from the late antique city) and round towers. They also put new facing stone on most of the Greek construction. Two Armenian inscriptions reportedly mention the rebuilding of this site by King Leo I (1206) and King Het‛um I (1251).[3] The Armenians also built a barrel vaulted chapel inside the fort.[4] The island was once connected to the mainland fort, Corycus castle, by a breakwater. The Armenians called this fortress Gorygos (Կոռիկոս).In the 14th century the Cilician Kingdom was on the verge of collapse and in 1360 Peter I of Cyprus captured the island at the request of the inhabitants. The castle was captured by İbrahim II of Karaman of the Karamanids, an Anatolian beylik, in 1448,[5] and by Gedik Ahmet Pasha of the Ottoman Empire in 1471. The name Gorygos was changed to Kızkalesi.
Add new comment