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Published: February 23rd 2013
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Waking to the sun streaming through the window and a glorious view of Kizkalesi Castle was a joy to behold.
Woolly says – had a slight headache, not sure why!!!!!
We arrived on the hotel veranda for a beautiful if simple breakfast with bread rolls to die for, having cost 72TL for a night including breakfast (approximately £29 GBP) it was a bargain, the owners were lovely and very sweet and the view sitting in the sun was a great start to the day. Check out the hotel on:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g298000-d1178772-Reviews-Hotel_Hantur-Mersin_Mersin_Icel_Turkish_Mediterranean_Coast.html Knowing of Kizkalesi castle before our arrival we were delighted to find a second castle in the same bay.
Woolly says – Two castles for the price of one, not bad. Jo told me that the fortress of Korykos was built in the 12
th century and was probably built on Roman remains and that it had its own harbour! Ian suggested we head round the bay for a better look.
For 5TL each (approximately £2.10 GBP), it proved to be excellent value for money.
Woolly says – Climbing up to the entrance through crumbling rocks was quite a feat, but the views were well
worth it. From the outside it appeared that there wasn’t much left of the castle, we were wrong! Walking over rough terrain we found more and more to look at, it was difficult to work out what some parts of the grounds were but large areas remained intact. I loved the harbour in the battlement walls and though I waited for ages no boats came in! As we clambered around we could also see Roman ruins spreading for miles across the adjacent countryside, pretty impressive to say the least. Well worth a visit but only for the nimble.
Jumping back into the car we headed west along the D400, knowing that mountain roads faced us Ian felt confident that with the sun shining the hairpin bends would present less problems this time.
Woolly says – It was even WORSE, although the sheer drops were now on Ian’s side of the car Jo and I were faced with being inches from the rock face, overtaking vehicles we seemed to go faster and faster, Jo kept a tight hold on me and tried not to grab the gearstick thinking it was the door handle! We made it back to sea
level and took our shaking leg for a coffee opposite the most impressive façade of Amaure Castle (also known as Mamure castle).
Paying out the tiny sum of 3TL each (approximately £1.40 GBP), we entered the gate house to be met with an AWESOME view of the interior of the castle.
Woolly says – it was massive, built on the foundations of a fourth-century
Roman castle and designed to protect against pirates, it was re-designed century after century until the fortress became three parts to allow as much resistance as possible from the enemy. There were 39 towers and Ian bravely climbed to the top of one of the remaining ones whilst Jo and I investigated the dark interior of the battlement walls – I knew I should have brought my bow with me! Walking along the inside of the walls we climbed up and down sloping steps in near pitch black conditions, finally coming into daylight we realized we were at the top of the fortifications on a foot wide path with a drop straight into the castle grounds!!!! Beating a hasty retreat and going cautiously back down to ground level we investigated further.
Health and
safety definitely doesn’t seem to apply to most places we have visited, Mamure Castle being the same. No barriers, sheer drops, crumbling brickwork you have to be prepared to take your life in your hands and we watched in amazment several tourists walked round the upper battlements!
Woolly says – throughout the grounds further remains could be seen, I found a fort right on the edge of the rocks that was just the right size for me! The large Mosque in the one courtyard was built in the 12
th century and is still used today. Going through holes in the walls we found ourselves overlooking the moat. Most unusual to find a fully filled moat anywhere and it gave a wonderful impression of how it would have been in the days of Ottomans reign. With tired paws and legs we called it a day and continued our journey through the mountains.
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John and Sylvia
John Wallace & Sylvia Bowman Wallace
Thanks for the memories
G'day, Jo and Ian (and Woolly). Just caught up with this series of blogs and they bring back lots of memories. Sylvia and I travelled by bus from Aleppo to Istanbul via the Mediterranean coast back in 1999 and loved the whole trip (though some of the roads were a bit scary!). We would get on a bus in the late morning and get off at the first stop after 3pm - unless somewhere else took our fancy first. One of our stops was Kizkalesi and we were blown away at how beautiful it was. We were there outside the normal tourist period so the place was almost completely deserted. We stayed in a luxury hotel in the middle of town, right on the beach, for US25 including dinner and breakfast. Wonderful. Sadly this was in the days before TBlog so it went unrecorded. You can be sure I will be following your travels in the future. John.