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Published: November 9th 2013
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Woolly says – I could feel the excitement building as we approached the fifth of November. Not because of any plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament or because the nation wants to scare the animal population of the UK with loud bangs and pops but because it is the most important day of the year – MY BIRTHDAY!
Having high expectations for his special day Woolly made short work of opening his presents and eating a huge slice of cake.
Woolly says – No Ferrari, no yacht, no private jet……. I got clothes! CLOTHES!! What’s going on?? Okay the cake was yummy but it took me an hour to get the chocolate off my tusks!
Finally we were able to load him into Ollie for his day out to celebrate. The plan – Find the castle that has now defeated us three times, Syedra here we come.
Woolly says – We approached the turning on the D400 coast road and this time with no diggers or workmen in evidence Ollie was off up the track as though the devil was chasing him. Whatever work had been completed
since our last attempt didn’t seem to have made any difference to the road surface (apart from making it worse!) and after a short road of gravel we were into the dirt with dust flying around us as Ollie pressed on up the steep sheep track. As we wound round the trail I could see small glimpses of discarded walls and ruins amongst the trees and undergrowth, which seemed to be dotted around the hillside. The road wasn’t filling me with confidence but Ollie was more than equal to the task.
Having covered Ollie in a new coat of dust we were most surprised to round a bend in the track to find ourselves on a newly laid car park, who would have known! A new toilet block and ticket office sat basking in the sun, this looks as though money might be changing hands soon for the privilege of visiting the 300 BC castle in the future. For us though it’s still free and as we donned walking boots and retrieved the Birthday picnic we set off to see the castle that has been eluding us.
Woolly says – The first fifteen steps
were easy, then we started to scale the rocky surround of the fortification. There were ancient buildings popping up through the grass everywhere and as we made our way higher we found ourselves at the foot of what had once been a huge gymnasium and bath house. There were no weight machines in sight but it was easy to see how the layout would have been. We wandered amongst the undergrowth to gaze at the alcoves and the massive windows with views over the surrounding areas of Mamulatar and Oba. Archaeological findings from here show that there would have been a small port that serviced the castle above the ocean. I must learn scuba diving to see if there are ruins under the water. Do they make Woolly size scuba tanks? Although the port is no more, the centre of the city was incredible.
Making our way through the bath area we discovered the colonnaded street, what a sight to behold. With many columns still present with inscriptions and embossments that would have lined the street, which would have been over 250 metres long. The columns now lay there in the sun and it almost seemed like
only a small crane would be needed to recreate the original setting. Tiny shops covered one side of the street with barely enough room to get into let alone have a display of stock for the customers to view.
Woolly says – mounting the steps at the end of the street we made our way to the now derelict church and climbing and scrabbling upwards we found ourselves at the top of the castle walls where it was possible to see ruins scattered everywhere below us. We cautiously made our way through the undergrowth, brambles and debris of the city to make more and more discoveries. The City Gate looked less than safe with a huge crack in the stone lintel, and having run under it very quickly we found the Baptising Cave. Part natural and part man-made, the pool must have been a central part of the life and times of these people. We found some pipework and followed it to three huge cisterns, one which has been concreted and still functions today to provide water for the local farmers and their crops. By now I was starving so having found our way back to the
main street we sat on the fallen columns eating our picnic and wondering what foods we might have had all those years ago, bet they didn’t have egg mayo sandwiches! It was so peaceful, I could have sat there all day!
Fed and refreshed we continued our discoveries. Arched doorways, remains of homes, fountains, and even an olive pressing workshop. Small barely used paths were all over the place, many unusable and most involving a machete to traverse. Several hours and many scratches later we found a pathway which led us back to the track coming out just below the car park. So much to see and probably so much still in the over grown bushes to find but without thick trousers and some tools to make a route through, we had seen as much as possible. The one information sign told us that coins made in the city, mosaics found there and a letter from Roman Emperor Septimus Severus thanking the people of Syedra for resisting bandit’s attacks in 194 AD can be found in Alanya Museum – sounds like a trip!
Woolly says – Septimus, wasn’t he the one that had a
bridge not far from Nemrut? These Roman dudes get everywhere! Well we found it, conquered it and I have to say it was definitely worth waiting for. Fourth time lucky, I wouldn’t have missed it, add it to your list .
Woolly says - Although this has been our first trip out for a week or so we have been busy with paint brushes and decorating our current home and the best news of all, we will be moving to our permanent home in the New Year. Next stop……………?
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
GREAT PIC
What is the name of this site? Is it Syedra Castle perchance?