Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park ( tr, Karatepe-Aslantaş Milli Parkı), established in 1958, is a national park in southern Turkey. Situated on the banks of a dam reservoir, it contains an archaeological open-air museum.

Location

Karatepe-Aslantaş National Park is located in the

Kadirli Kadirli, formerly called Kars, is a town and district of Osmaniye Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is located in the Çukurova plain, from the large city of Osmaniye. Population is 84,618 (urban) and 120,950 (including rural ar ...

and

Düziçi Düziçi is a town and district of Osmaniye Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. It is located in a small plain in the foothills of the Nur Mountains and 440 m above the sea level. Düziçi is on a route from the Middle East to Anatol ...

districts of

Osmaniye Province Osmaniye Province ( tr, ) is a province in south-central Turkey. It was named Cebel-i Bereket () in the early republic until 1933, when it was incorporated into Adana Province. It was made a province again in 1996. It covers an area of 3,767&nbs ...

. The provincial roads , and from Osmaniye to Kadirlı pass through the national park. The protected area is located at from north of Osmaniye and southeast of Kadirli. The nearest airport is

Adana Şakirpaşa Airport Adana Airport or Adana Şakirpaşa Airport ( tr, Adana Havalimanı) is an international airport located in Adana, Turkey. The airport serves mainly to Cilicia region and in a lesser extent to the provinces surrounding Cilicia, due to its frequent ...

at distance form the national park.

Background

The national park was established on September 28, 1958 as the country's second protected area of this type after the discovery and excavations of important archaeological finds here.

Geography

The national park is located on a slightly rugged terrain between the foothills of

Taurus 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 Eğird ...

and the plains of Çukurova, where Ceyhan River runs through. The national park is partly on the banks of a reservoir formed by the Aslantaş Dam. The streams Hillik Creek, Kırağı Creek, Kışla Creek and Kaplan Creek, which are all tributes of the Ceyhan River and flow into the Aslantaş Dam reservoir, are at the boundaries of the protected area. Elevation of the national park area varies between above mean sea level, including notable hills as İncirlitepe: , Kalitepe: , Karadağtepe: , Garzedetepe: , Gavurtaştepe: , Bocayücetepe: , and Karatepe being the highest one at .

Open-air museum

The national park comprises Turkey's first established

open-air museum An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...

as its centerpiece with the same name. It is situated atop

Karatepe Karatepe ( Turkish, 'Black Hill'; Hittite: ''Azatiwataya'') is a late Hittite fortress and open-air museum in Osmaniye Province in southern Turkey lying at a distance of about 23 km from the district center of Kadirli. It is sited in the ...

, on a peninsula of the Aslantaş Dam reservoir. The site, called locally "Hitit Yarımadası" ("Hittite Peninsula"), is reached by a -long stone-paved trail from the entrance of the national park. The open-air museum is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology a ...

, an ancient walled settlement of the Neo-Hittites dating back to the 8th century. Excavated between 1946 and 1952, the artifacts, stone statues and reliefs inside the ruined fortification, are left at their original place. Lion statues on stone ( tr, Aslantaş) give the site its name. The Karatepe Bilingual, inscriptions on stone with the same text in

Phoenician alphabet The Phoenician alphabet is an alphabet (more specifically, an abjad) known in modern times from the Canaanite and Aramaic inscriptions found across the Mediterranean region. The name comes from the Phoenician civilization. The Phoenician a ...

and

Hieroglyphic Luwian Hieroglyphic Luwian (''luwili'') is a variant of the Luwian language, recorded in official and royal seals and a small number of monumental inscriptions. It is written in a hieroglyphic script known as Anatolian hieroglyphs. A decipherment was pr ...

, which enabled the decryption of the

Anatolian hieroglyphs Anatolian hieroglyphs are an indigenous logographic script native to central Anatolia, consisting of some 500 signs. They were once commonly known as Hittite hieroglyphs, but the language they encode proved to be Luwian, not Hittite, and the ter ...

, is the most interesting piece of the open-air museum.

Ecosystem

;Flora The national park inhabits many typical flora species of the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

Turkish pine ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturalis ...

(''Pinus brutia'') and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

(''Quercus'') form woodlands, and (''Quercus'') shrub groves in the national park. Other plants are

turpentine tree Turpentine tree may refer to: * ''Pistacia terebinthus'', native to the Mediterranean region * ''Pistacia atlantica'', native to the Middle East, the Maghreb, the Canary Islands and Southeast Europe * '' Pistacia eurycarpa'', native to West Asia * ' ...

(''Pistacia terebinthus'') and

sumac Sumac ( or ), also spelled sumach, is any of about 35 species of flowering plants in the genus ''Rhus'' and related genera in the cashew family (Anacardiaceae). Sumacs grow in subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world, including Eas ...

(''Rhus''). Picnic areas of the national park were planted with

umbrella pine ''Sciadopitys verticillata'', the or Japanese umbrella-pine, is a unique conifer endemic to Japan. It is the sole living member of the family Sciadopityaceae and genus '' Sciadopitys'', a living fossil with no close relatives. The oldest fos ...

(''Pinus pinea''),

walnut tree Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leafl ...

(''Juglans''),

plane tree ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

(''Platanus''),

mulberry tree ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

(''Morus''),

melissa Melissa is a female given name. The name comes from the Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". ''Melissa'' also refers to the plant ''Me ...

and

hortensia ''Hydrangea'', () commonly named the hortensia, is a genus of over 75 species of flowering plants native to Asia and the Americas. By far the greatest species diversity is in eastern Asia, notably China, Korea, and Japan. Most are shrubs tall, ...

(''Hydrangea''). ;Fauna 15 mammal, 12 reptile, 5 amphibian and 22 fish species are observed in the national park

Recreation

The national park is open to visitors on daily basis. Opportunities offered as recreational outdoor activities are

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, picnicking and camping. Camping is permitted at designated picnic locations only. Accommodation is available in Kadirli and Osmaniye.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karatepe-Aslantas National Park National parks of Turkey Geography of Osmaniye Province Landforms of Osmaniye Province Tourist attractions in Osmaniye Province Kadirli District Düziçi District 1958 establishments in Turkey Protected areas established in 1958