Işıkkale (meaning the "castle of light") is an ancient settlement in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Işıkkale is located at in the rural area of

Silifke Silifke is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Mersin Province, Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,692 km2, and its population is 132,665 (2022). It is west of the city of Mersin, on the west end of the Çukurova plain. ...

ilçe The Provinces of Turkey, 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the Ottoman Empire and in the early Turkish Republic, the corresponding unit was the ''qadaa, kaza''. Most provinces bear the s ...

(district) of

Mersin Province Mersin Province (), formerly İçel Province (), is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast between Antalya Province, A ...

. Işıkkale was established in the

Taurus Mountains The Taurus Mountains (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Toros Dağları'' or ''Toroslar,'' Greek language, Greek'':'' Ταύρος) are a mountain range, mountain complex in southern Turkey, separating the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coastal reg ...

. Its distance from Silifke is and from

Mersin Mersin () is a large city and port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Mediterranean Region, Turkey, southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of the Mersin Province (formerly İçel). It is made up of four district governorates ...

is . Işıkkale is between two other archaeologically important sites;

Karakabaklı Karakabaklı is an archaeological site in Mersin Province, Turkey. Geography Karakabaklı is situated next to Karadedeli village (now a remote neighborhood of Atakent) in the rural area of Silifke district. In the antiquity this region was cal ...

and

Sinekkale Sinekkale (literally "The castle of flies") is an archaeological site where the architectural remains of a large villa rustica have been identified in Turkey. The original name is unknown. Location Sinekkale is located in the rural area of Silif ...

. The visitors follow the Turkish state highway D-400 which runs in parallel to

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

coast. west of Atakent, the visitors turn to north for about . The settlement is situated on both sides of the road. The original name of the settlement is not known. It dates back to

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, Roman and the early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

ages. There are many buildings, cisterns, wineries, and olive oil presses. In most of the buildings polygonal masonry is used .Mersin Valiliği:Mersin Ören Yerleri, Kaleleri, Müzeleri, p. 213 But there are also buildings of a later era such as a three-nave basilica.

References

Silifke District Ancient Anatolia Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey Olba territorium {{DEFAULTSORT:Işıkkale