Meydancık Castle () is a castle ruin in

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 ...

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 ...

. The original name was Kirshu and the name of the ruin during Ottoman times was Beydili Kale.

Geography

The castle is located at , south of

Gülnar Gülnar is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,416 km2, and its population is 27,889 (2022). It is south-west of the city of Mersin. Geography The town of Gülnar is inland on a plain high in the Taurus Mo ...

. It is on a hill at the west of the road between Gülnar and Aydıncık. Visitors can reach the castle either from Gülnar by an road or from Aydıncık by a road. 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 ...

the total distance (via Gülnar) is about .

History

After the collapse of the

Hittite Empire The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

experienced a period of turmoil. Many small states emerged, one of which was Pirandu in South

, which was established by the

Luwian Luwian (), sometimes known as Luvian or Luish, is an ancient language, or group of languages, within the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family. The ethnonym Luwian comes from ''Luwiya'' (also spelled ''Luwia'' or ''Luvia'') – ...

people at the west of the

Göksu River The Göksu River (), known in classical antiquity, antiquity as the Calycadnus and in the Middle Ages as the Saleph, is a river on the Taşeli, Taşeli Plateau in southern Turkey. Its two sources arise in the Taurus Mountains—the northern in t ...

around the 7th century BC. The capital of Pirandu was Kirshu. However, in the 6th century BC, Kirshu was sacked by the Babylon Emperor

Neriglissar Neriglissar ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nergal-šar-uṣur'' or ''Nergal-šarra-uṣur'', meaning "Nergal, protect the king") was the fourth king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from his usurpation of the throne in 560 BC to his death in 556 ...

. After Babylon was defeated by the Persians, Kirshu came under

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...

rule and after the Achaemenid Empire was defeated by

Alexander III of Macedon Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 ...

, Kirshu was incorporated within the realm of the

Ptolemaic dynasty The Ptolemaic dynasty (; , ''Ptolemaioi''), also known as the Lagid dynasty (, ''Lagidai''; after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal house which ruled the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt during the Hellenistic period. ...

of Egypt and later that of the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great ...

The fortification

The plan of the fortification is roughly rectangular, with the longer dimension oriented along a north–south axis. The total area is 750 x 150 m² (2460 x 490 ft²) In the fortification the military units were at the north side of the hill and the only entrance to the castle was via the gate at the northeast corner. The palace was in the middle. A public treasure consisting of 5215 coins from various Hellenistic states has been unearthed in the palace. These coins are now exhibited in Silifke Museum. Another important find was a stamp of

Muwatalli II Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish; meaning "mighty") was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology. Biography He was the eldest son of Mursili II ...

,Ministry of Culture and Tourism Mersin
/ref> which was surprising because

Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...

inhabited the area long before the establishment of Pirundu. At the southern end, there is a wide wellhole, the function of which is debatable. It might either be a cistern or an altar or may even be a secret passage. At the present, excavations down to give no clue.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meydancik Castle Forts in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Ruined castles in Turkey Castles in Mersin Province Archaeological sites in Mersin Province, Turkey