Akçakoca Castle, also known as the Genoese Castle, is a castle built on a cliff located between two bays, 2.5 kilometers west of

Akçakoca Akçakoca is both a town and district of Düzce Province, in the Black Sea region of Turkey, located about 200 km east of Istanbul. The town was named after a Turkish chieftain of the 14th century CE who captured the area for the Ottoman E ...

Düzce Düzce is the capital city of Düzce Province, the eighty-first Province in Turkey. The population is 367,087 and in 2009 was 125,240, an increase from 61,878 in 1990. Overview Düzce is the eighty-first and the newest province of Turkey. ...

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 ...

. To the south of the castle, in the east and west directions, a high tower rises in the middle of the walls and a water cistern exists in the inner courtyard. The bricks and mortar used in the castle show similarities with the bricks and mortar used in other Genoese castles.Akçakoca Ceneviz Kalesi
/ref> The Genoese Castle and its surroundings have survived from the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

and

Eastern Roman The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

periods. It has been registered as an archaeological and natural site with the decision of the Ankara Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board, and is listed in the

UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

with the theme "Castles and Walled Settlements on the Genoese Trade Route from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea". Akçakoca Castle is surrounded by two separate

Blue Flag beaches The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) that a beach, marina, or sustainable boating tourism operator meets its standards. The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE, which is a not-for-profit non-g ...

to the east and west. One of the beaches, called Yalıyarlar, is known as seal reefs because it contains caves along the coast and attracts attention. The Castle is the most preferred picnic and recreation area of Akçakoca.

References

Castles in Turkey Forts in Turkey Ottoman fortifications Düzce Genoese colonies {{Turkey-castle-stub