Kızkalesi and around
Midway between Silifke and Mersin, KIZKALESİ (“Maiden’s Castle”) is the longest-established resort along the Eastern Mediterranean coastline, with its lively beaches burrowed between a pair of looming Byzantine castles. While Turkish families have been descending en masse for years, international tourists are still a relatively new phenomenon, and the genuine, unobtrusive hospitality of the locals makes a welcome relief from the tourist-packed haunts further up the coast. Fine sandy beaches, shallow waters and seaside camel rides make the resort an excellent choice for children, and there’s everything from jet skiing to paragliding on hand to keep the rest of the family entertained.
With its improved transport links and tour possibilities, Kızkalesi also makes a great base for exploring the surrounding area, like the popular Cennet ve Cehennem (caves of heaven and hell), the dramatic chasm of Kanlidıvane, or the mosaic-floored Bath of Poimenius in Narlıkuyu. If you have a special interest in exploring off-the-beaten-track ruins, buy Celal Taşkiran’s Silifke and Environs, an exhaustive guide to all the sites between Anamur and Mersin, available for €10 from Rain Tour & Travel Agency.
Kızkalesi’s most compelling feature, the twelfth-century sea castle known as the Kızkalesi or Maiden’s Castle, makes an imposing sight floating on the horizon out to sea. According to a story also found elsewhere in Turkey, a medieval Armenian king had a beautiful daughter. After it was prophesied that she would die from a snak ebite, the king had the castle built and moved the girl out to it for safety there. One day, however, an adviser sent a basket of fruit out to the island for the girl, out of which slid a snake that killed her. Locals say the snake still lives there, so the only people who venture out to the island are tourists, for whose benefit boat services operate; you can also hire a pedalo and go it alone. The unadorned walls and sturdy towers still stand, but apart from masonry fragments and weeds there’s currently little to see within. Plans are currently under way, however, to develop the attraction into a museum (presumably with an entrance fee) and restaurant.
Brief history
Known as Corycus in ancient times, Kızkalesi changed hands frequently until the arrival of the Romans in 72 BC. It then prospered to become one of the most important ports along the coast. Roman-era relics still survive in the area, notably a series of mysterious rock reliefs north of town and the carvings at the chasm at Kanlıdivane to the east. Kızkalesi continued to thrive during the Byzantine era despite occasional Arab attacks – against which its defences were strengthened by the construction of two castles during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries – before falling to the Ottomans in 1482.
Mersin
From the flower-filled parks and palm-tree-lined walkways that stretch along its waterfront to the spirited bustle of its daily fish bazaar, MERSİN is a model example of contemporary Turkish urban planning, and living proof that modernization can flow alongside tradition. Turkey’s largest Mediterranean port, home to 1.5 million people, Mersin has thanks to rapid industrial growth and its role as an international free-trade zone become an important trade and transport hub.
Despite being inhabited since Hittite times, however, the city retains little of historical interest, and aside from its regular ferries to Cyprus there’s little to appeal to travellers. That said, the harbour city makes a pleasant stop-off along the coast, and the opening of an impressive new marina has opened up a new area of development, complete with hip bars and restaurants.
Tarsus and around
TARSUS, the birthplace of St Paul and the city where Cleopatra met Mark Antony and turned him into a “strumpet’s fool”, lies about 30km east of Mersin, across the factory-dotted cotton fields of the Çukurova. St Paul was born as Saul in Tarsus about 46 years after the meeting between Cleopatra and Antony. He returned after his conversion on the road to Damascus, fleeing persecution in Palestine. Proud of his roots, he is described as having told the Roman commandant of Jerusalem “I am a Jew, a Tarsian from Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city.”
Nowadays, the Antik Şehir or “old city” has been exposed by excavations, but although there remains a good section of black-basalt main street and some underground stoas and temples, only a few reminders of the town’s illustrious past survive.
Uzuncaburç
The ancient city ruins at Uzuncaburç (Olba and Diocaesarea), a spectacular one-hour drive from Silifke through a jagged gorge, make a worthwhile day-trip. A small, rural village has sprung up in haphazard fashion around the ruins, with makeshift stalls flogging leather bags and handmade rugs (known as çul), and local teahouses where you can try local specialities like kenger kahvesi (coffee made from acanthus) and pekmez (grape molasses).
While the main site of Uzuncaburç lacks the size and scale of Perge and Aspendos, it’s atmospheric enough in its own way, if only because of its relatively neglected state. Although the area was first settled by the Hittites, they left little behind; the most impressive ruins that survive date from Hellenistic times.
The best place to start exploring Uzuncaburç is the overgrown Roman theatre, overlooked by a couple of beautiful houses whose walls are choc-a-bloc with Classical masonry. From here, pass through an enormous five-columned monumental gateway to reach a colonnaded street, once the city’s main thoroughfare. Keep your eyes open for what look like small stone shelves on the columns, which once supported statues and busts.