Castles of Turkey

 Kozan Castle

The Kozan Castle was built by the Assyrians according to the Adana brochure. Of strategic importance, it was later taken by Abbasids in the 9th century. In the 11th century the Seljuk took over, next came the crusaders and the Armenians. This castle was smaller and less in tact in comparison to others we have seen in the area. It's still amazing to see how in tact these historic ruins are after thousands of years.

 We went with our church group and had a really good time

This is enough to give any mom an instant heart attack! 

Kizkalesi
"Castle by the Sea"

The castle by the sea was originally built by the Romans as a sea gate. Various additions were made during the Byzantine era.The fortress is rectangular, and is made up of an outer and inner wall.

Just like most of the castles in Turkey, Kiz Kalesi has an interesting tale.One day a fortune teller told the king of Korykos ( the former name of Kiz Kalesi) that his sole and much-beloved daughter would be killed by a snake bite. In order to prevent that, the king built the castle in the sea and made his daughter live there. But even a king cannot change destiny. A snake brought onto the island in a basket of fruit bit his daughter, and she died. 

Lauren took this the first time we visited Kizkalesi

On the beach outside the castle

Walking on the south side of the castle gave us some breathtaking views

Lauren and Joe doing a rubbing of ancient carvings

This was my favorite view

Snake Castle
 The kids' favorite

These are some facts I found in wikipedia: Snake Castle (Yilankale) is a large medieval crusader castle located east of Adana in modern Turkey, built on a rocky hill overlooking the east bank of the Ceyhan river. Its medieval name is unknown - the "Castle of the Snakes" name is due to a Turkish legend in which it belongs to the king of the snakes (Youngs 1965).

The castle and its impressive towers are visible from the highway E5 from Adana to Iskenderun (about 133km away). Yılankale is one of many castles in the Adana area. It was built in the 11th or the 12th century, and was used by the Crusaders of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. 

The view from behind the castle where you climb up

Over spring break Joe let Lauren and Nolan choose a place to go and this is what they wanted to do.
Climb Snake Castle!

Just behind Lauren was a huge drop off....very scary for a parent!

Joe reached the top! Good job!

This was taken over a year ago...Owen rock climbing!

Inside a much needed shady portion of the castle

Anavarza 
Formerly known as "Anavarzba"

This was a passage I found online about this particular picture at Anavarza:

"The Moslems of the region consider this as the crack cut by Hz. Ali and tell a legend about how the son-in-law of the Prophet pulled out his sword and made a crack in the rocks for himself and his horse when he was being pursued by the enemy. Leaving this legend aside, the fissure seems to be opened to allow for the road which went from Anazarbus to Flaviopolis (Kadirli) and Hieropolis (Kastabala during the Byzantine Period). The passage is 250 metres long and its width changes between 4-15 metres."

There were tombs all over that had been destroyed by numerous earthquakes including a severe earthquake recorded in 1945. Locals emptied valuables from tombs and used them for personal gain.
I just had to lie in one of those tombs...it was too tempting and I caved! I love how Lauren is smiling down at me! No remorse at all! 

This kid brought me flowers (probably wanting money for them) and tried to sell us these fake coins. We were warned that many locals will try to sell tourists fake antiques....and as you see...they tried! He carried them in an old cigarette box too...nice!

There were 3 gates to the castle grounds. This is the west gate.