Sinap Castle is a medieval Armenian fortification in
Çamlıyayla
Çamlıyayla is a town and district of Mersin Province in the Mediterranean region of Turkey. The district has a population of 10,558 of which 3335 lives in the town of Çamlıyayl
Çamlıyayla is a small district high in the Taurus Mountains. I ...
ilçe
The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the ''kaza''.
Most provinces bear the same name as their respectiv ...
(district) of
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 ...
in southern
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 ...
.
Geography
The castle is in 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 ...
at . It is situated to the northeast of Çamlıyayla and to the north of
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 ...
. The distance to Çamlıyayla is and to Mersin is . The stabilized road to the castle diverges from the Mersin-Çamlıyayla highway. Its altitude is . But it is not particularly high with respect to immediate surroundings.
History
The castle functioned as both a fortified estate house and a guardian along the strategic route between the Het‛umid castle at
Lampron Lampron (; ; ) is a castle near the town of Çamlıyayla in Mersin Province, Turkey. While part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in the Middle Ages, the castle was known as Lampron and was the ancestral home of the Armenian Hethumid princes. Situa ...
(''Namrun Kalesi'') and the
Cilician Gates
The Cilician Gates or Gülek Pass is a pass through the Taurus Mountains connecting the low plains of Cilicia to the Anatolian Plateau, by way of the narrow gorge of the Gökoluk River. Its highest elevation is about 1000m.
The Cilician Gates hav ...
.
It was one of the many dozens of fortifications within the medieval
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia
The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Ô¿Õ«Õ¬Õ«Õ¯Õ¥Õ¡Õ¶ Õ€Õ¡ÕµÕ¡Õ½Õ¿Õ¡Õ¶, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...
. The fort of Sinap is located approximately six kilometers northeast of
Lampron Lampron (; ; ) is a castle near the town of Çamlıyayla in Mersin Province, Turkey. While part of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in the Middle Ages, the castle was known as Lampron and was the ancestral home of the Armenian Hethumid princes. Situa ...
on the gentle slope of a partially forested agricultural valley. The name ''Sinap'' means "corner" in old Turkish.
Building
This three-story high structure has a simple rectangular plan with solid cylindrical towers an each corner. It was built between the 12th and 14th centuries with the typical rusticated ashlar masonry of the Armenians.
The lower floor, which is covered by a partially collapsed pointed vault, has no openings except for one door in the west wall. A now missing staircase once led to the second level which also has a partially preserved vault. Its walls are opened by nine beautifully designed casemates with embrasured loopholes, two windows, and an apse (?) in the east wall. The third level, which undoubtedly had fighting platforms (perhaps with merlons), is destroyed. The fortification was surveyed in 1979.
[Photographs and a plan of Sinap Castl]
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References
{{Mersin Province
Çamlıyayla District
Castles in Turkey
Castles in Mersin Province
Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey
History of Mersin Province