Toprakkale is a town and district 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 ...

in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

region of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. It is located at 10 km to the west of

Osmaniye Osmaniye () is a city on the eastern edge of the Çukurova plain in southern Turkey and the capital of Osmaniye province. Backed by the foothills of the Nur Mountains, Osmaniye lay on one of the old Silk Roads and was always a place of strategic ...

. Its name comes from an

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

castle near the city. The town is on a road and rail crossing, a natural intersection of routes between

Adana Adana (; ; ) is a major city in southern Turkey. It is situated on the Seyhan River, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. The administrative seat of Adana province, it has a population of 2.26 million. Adana lies in the heart of Cilicia, wh ...

Hatay Hatay Province ( tr, Hatay ili, ) is the southernmost province of Turkey. It is situated almost entirely outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of ...

and

Gaziantep Gaziantep (), previously and still informally called Aintab or Antep (), is a major city and capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region, approxi ...

History

The great fortress known as ''Toprakkale'' (Arabic: ''Tall Hamdūn''; Frankish: ''Thil Hamd(o)un''; Armenian: ''T‛il Hamtun'') was founded in the 8th century by the Abbasids. During the 12th century it was frequently captured by the Byzantines, Crusaders, and Armenians. In 1266 the

Mamluk Mamluk ( ar, مملوك, mamlūk (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural), translated as "one who is owned", meaning " slave", also transliterated as ''Mameluke'', ''mamluq'', ''mamluke'', ''mameluk'', ''mameluke'', ''mamaluke'', or ''marmeluke'') ...

s briefly seized the castle from its Armenian lord and in 1337 permanently removed it from the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. It was seized by the Ottomans in the 1490s when they captured all of Cilicia. On the summit of a basalt outcrop is the almost rectangular complex which measures 150 meters on its long north-to-south axis, and 105 meters in width. The walls are protected by numerous round towers and a lethal array of embrasured loopholes (shooting ports). At the south and east is a second highly fortified wall. To the west and north is a massive talus with its own system of tunnels. Roughly 100 meters from the base of the outcrop at the west and north is a curving fortified circuit wall which creates a separate ward far larger than the interior of the summit fortress. Toprakkale appears to be the result of many periods of construction, with the Mamluks as the last of the significant contributors.

References

External links

District governor's official website

District municipality's official website

Carefully documented photographic survey and plan of Toprak Castle, Osmaniye
Towns in Turkey Populated places in Osmaniye Province Districts of Osmaniye Province {{Osmaniye-geo-stub