Adamkayalar (literally "man-rocks") is a location in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of fo ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

famous for rock carved figures.

Geography

Adamkayalar is on the southern slopes of the

Toros Mountains The Taurus Mountains ( Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar'') are a mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean coastal region from the central Anatolian Plateau. The system extends along a curve from Lake Eğirdir ...

only several kilometers north of the

Kızkalesi Kızkalesi ( en, Maiden's castle) is a town in Mersin Province, Turkey. The town, known in Antiquity as Corycus or Korykos ( el, Κώρυκος), is named after the ancient castle built on a small island just facing the town. Geography Kızk ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

coastline at about . Distance to Kızkalesi, the coastline town is , to

Silifke Silifke ( grc-gre, Σελεύκεια, ''Seleukeia'', la, Seleucia ad Calycadnum) is a town and district in south-central Mersin Province, Turkey, west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of Çukurova. Silifke is near the Mediterranean coast ...

is and to

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

is . Kızkalesi is on the Datça-Mersin highway. To reach Adamkayalar the travellers have to follow an asphalt village road of . But the last of the path which detaches from the village road, leads to a gorge named Şeytanderesi. The rest of the road is impassable by the motor vehicles and in order to reach the rocks the explorers should climb down.

Figures

On the rocks facing the gorge, there are carved figures in nine niches. These are the figures of eleven males, four females and two children and one ibex. (The name ''Adamkayalar'' means Men-rocks) On pediment, there are also the figures of Roman eagles (Aquila). No document exists about the origin of the figures, but they are probably from the second century AD. In 2019, a large amount of damage was inflicted on the reliefs; reports said it had been done by treasure hunters who believed gold was inside the statues.Defineciler Mersin’de Adamkayalar’ı Parçalıyo

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References

{{Mersin Province 2nd-century Roman sculptures Roman sites in Turkey Rock reliefs in Turkey Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Olba territorium