Çandır Castle ( tr, Çandır Kalesi) the medieval Armenian site of Paperon ( hy, Պապեռոն, also known as Barbaron), is a fortification 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 ...

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 east of

Ayvagediği Ayvagediği is a town in Mersin Province, Turkey. (ğ pronounced as gh) Geography Ayvagediği is in Toroslar district, the capital of which is actually in Greater Mersin. Ayvagediği is a mountain town at an average altitude of in a valley on ...

and Gözne Castle and to the north of Mersin. The distance to Mersin is about . The castle shares the same name with a village lying to the south (''see'' Çandır, Mersin). It is built on a plateau at an altitude of .

History

Most historians believe that the castle may be the castle of ''Paperon'' which is mentioned in conjunction with

Byzantine 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 ...

Emperor

Zeno Zeno ( grc, Ζήνων) may refer to: People * Zeno (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Philosophers * Zeno of Elea (), philosopher, follower of Parmenides, known for his paradoxes * Zeno of Citium (333 – 264 BC), ...

in the 5th century. Zeno, who was an Isaurian, built the castle and spent a part of his refuge years in the castle. Alishan, writing in the 19th century, identifies Paperon with the

fort of Papirion ("Παπιρίον"), which is first mentioned in conjunction with the Byzantine emperor

the Isaurian in the 5th century. However, there is no archeological evidence to support this and the identification is questioned. The site rose to prominence during the

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia (Middle Armenian: , '), also known as Cilician Armenia ( hy, Կիլիկեան Հայաստան, '), Lesser Armenia, Little Armenia or New Armenia, and formerly known as the Armenian Principality of Cilicia ( hy, ...

from the 12th through the 14th centuries, when it was the seat of Het’umid power, and the surviving structures date from this period. The fortress controlled two roads to Central Anatolia, one of which leads to the other main Het’umid stronghold,

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. Situ ...

. Çandır Castle was the residence of many Armenian nobles and kings as well as the home of the remarkable scholar and diplomat,

Sempad the Constable Sempad the Constable ( hy, Սմբատ Սպարապետ, Սմբատ Գունդստաբլ, translit=Smbat Sparapet, Smbat Gúndestabl) (1208–1276) (also Smpad and Smbat) was a noble in Cilician Armenia, an older brother of King Hetoum I. He was a ...

The castle

In 1979 the site was surveyed by Robert Edwards, who, in 1987, published an archaeological and historical assessment of the site along with an accurate plan. The only entrance into the castle is up a partially vaulted staircase of approximately 140 steps that is cut into the vertical side of the plateau. In parallel to the steps is an inclined plane which was probably used for haulage. The castle is large, but most of the walls as well as the buildings are in ruins. The two most impressive structures are a two-story residence and a church, both of which are constructed with beautifully executed polished stones. This church, which now only partially survives, was, according to its dedicatory inscription in Armenian, completed in 1251 by

to honor his father. This inscription was on the south exterior wall of the church; it survived at least into the mid-1930s, but no trace of it existed by 1946.T. S. R. Boase, ''The Cilician Kingdom of Armenia'', 1978, p.156.

Trivia

A small house has been built inside the castle for a fire warden appointed by the Ministry of Forestry

References

External links

360Mersin page (For images)Extensive photographic survey, description and plan of Papeṙōn / Çandır Castle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Candir Castle Byzantine architecture in Turkey Ruined castles in Turkey Byzantine fortifications in Turkey Byzantine sites in Anatolia Castles in Mersin Province Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey