Babakale is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the Ayvacık District of

Çanakkale Province Çanakkale Province ( tr, ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northwestern part of the country. It takes its name from the city of Çanakkale. Like Istanbul, Çanakkale province has a European (Thrace) and an Asian (Anatolia) part. The E ...

in Turkey. Its population is 494 (2021). The place is known for hand-made knife cutlery.

Geography and history

Babakale is located at the southwestern tip of the Biga Peninsula. It is also the westernmost tip of the Asian continent. It is from the province center

Çanakkale Çanakkale (pronounced ), ancient ''Dardanellia'' (), is a city and seaport in Turkey in Çanakkale province on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. The population of the city is 195,439 (2021 estimate). Çanakkale is ...

and from Ayvacık. The settlement was established in the 1300s. It has been known as Babakale since 1912. "Babakale" is a lexeme of Ottoman Turkish بابا (''baba'', "father") and قلعه (''kal'e'', "castle"). The location of the village is mentioned for the first time in the '' Kitab-ı Bahriye'' ("Book of the Sea") by

Piri Reis Ahmet Muhiddin Piri ( 1465 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis ( tr, Pîrî Reis or ''Hacı Ahmet Muhittin Pîrî Bey''), was a navigator, geographer and cartographer. He is primarily known today for his maps and charts collected in his ''Kita ...

(c. 1465 – 1553), Ottoman admiral, navigator,

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and cartographer. According to the historic book, the grave of a saint named Emek Yemez Baba was situated in the location. Being a seaside resort, the population rises up to 4,000 in summer time. As of 2021, the

village head A village head, village headman or village chief is the community leader of a village or a small town. Usage Brunei In Brunei, village head is called or in the Malay language. It is an administrative post which leads the community of a v ...

is Aziz Erkan.

Babakale Castle

The village hosts a castle built during the

Ottoman era The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. There were a mosque, a Turkish bath and two fountains inside the castle. The

Babakale Castle Babakale Castle ( tr, Babakale Kalesi, ota, Hırzü’l-Bahr) is an 18th-century fortification at Babakale, Ayvacık, the westernmost point of mainland Turkey. It was built during the Ottoman era. Geography and history Babakale Castle is sit ...

( ota, Hırzü’l-Bahr) is situated on a hill at

Cape Baba Cape Baba ( tr, Baba Burnu) or Cape Lecton ( grc, Λεκτόν), is the westernmost point of the Turkish mainland, making it the westernmost point of Asia. It is located at the village of Babakale ("Father Castle"), Ayvacık, Çanakkale, in the his ...

near the seashore. According to a marble inscription found above the main castle gate, it was built by Admiral Kaymak Mustafa Pasha between AH 1135–1141 (1722–1729 CE) to protect the settlement from French pirates. The castle is oriented in northwest–southeast direction. It has a rectangular plan with

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

s on four corners. Entrance to the castle is through the main gate on the middle of the northeast front. In addition, there is a small gate next to the southeastern watchtower.

Gallery, Babakale Castle

File:Babakale Castle 1.jpg, File:Babakale Castle 3.jpg, File:Babakale Castle 4.jpg, File:Babakale Castle 5.jpg, File:Babakale Castle 6.jpg, File:Babakale Castle7.jpg,

Cutlery manufacturing

Babakale is known for handcrafting knife cutlery. According to the local cutlers, the handicraft goes back to the 1720s when the castle was built; after the completion of the castle, cutting and piercing weapons such as swords, daggers and knives, which were needed by the castle-guards, were handcrafted in the beginning by master cutlers, who had immigrated from modern-day

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

. At one time the cutlery, which was produced in around 18 workshops, was exported to many places in a region between Syria and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

from the local port via sea trade. Manufactured of

forged Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. The blows are delivered with a hammer (often a power hammer) or a die. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it ...

chrome steel Chrome steel is one of a class of non stainless steels such as AISI 52100, En31, SUJ2, 100Cr6, 100C6, DIN 5401 which are used for applications such as bearings, tools, drills and utensils. Popular culture The term was used in both the origin ...

by traditional methods, the knives of Babakale are stored in a

scabbard A scabbard is a sheath for holding a sword, knife, or other large blade. As well, rifles may be stored in a scabbard by horse riders. Military cavalry and cowboys had scabbards for their saddle ring carbine rifles and lever-action rifles on the ...

and are ornamented. The knives are categorized upon the structure of the hilt, such as the Bowie knife, common knife and handle knife, as well as upon usage: the

grapefruit knife A grapefruit knife is a special type of knife designed specifically for cutting grapefruit. Grapefruit knives are small with a curved serrated blade, designed to hug the curves of the grapefruit. This is used to separate the outer edge of the se ...

is long, the belt-knife for shepherds is long, the

hunting knife A hunting knife is a knife used during hunting for preparing the game to be used as food: skinning the animal and cutting up the meat. It is different from the hunting dagger which was traditionally used to kill wild game. Some hunting knives ar ...

is long, and the butcher knife is long. "Delivery of special customer orders may take up to five months" as told by a cutler.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Babakale, Ayvacik Villages in Ayvacık District, Çanakkale Seaside resorts in Turkey Extreme points of Asia