Yelbiz Castle | |
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Yelbiz Kalesi | |
Tekedüz village, Bozyazı, Mersin Province, Turkey | |
Coordinates | 36°08′41″N33°00′50″E / 36.14472°N 33.01389°E |
Type | Fortress |
Site information | |
Open to the public | Yes |
Condition | Mostly demolished |
Site history | |
Built by | Byzantine Empire (?) |
Materials | Stone |
Yelbiz Castle (Turkish : Yelbiz Kalesi, literally "Spider Castle") is a castle ruin in Mersin Province, Turkey.
The castle is in Bozyazı ilçe (district) of Mersin Province at about 36°08′41″N33°00′50″E / 36.14472°N 33.01389°E . It is situated on a 600 m (2,000 ft) hill to the north east of Bozyazı. [1] [2] Visitors follow the road from Tekedüzü village to west in the dense forestry. There is no road in the last 350 m (1,150 ft) of the course. Its distance to Bozyazı is 8 km (5.0 mi) and to Mersin is 207 km (129 mi).
Within the castle, which is mostly in ruins, there is a monastery with two wide halls, a part of a basilica and a courtyard. There are remains of mosaics with geometric design in the monastery. The windows are round arch type. There are two cisterns and two towers of about 6–7 m (20–23 ft) height in the west of the castle. [3] [2]
Mersin Province, formerly İçel Province, is a province and metropolitan municipality in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. Its area is 16,010 km2, and its population is 1,916,432 (2022). The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of four municipalities and district governorates: Akdeniz, Mezitli, Toroslar and Yenişehir. Next largest is Tarsus, the birthplace of Paul the Apostle. The province is considered to be a part of the geographical, economical and cultural region of Çukurova, which covers the provinces of Mersin, Adana, Osmaniye and Hatay.
Bozyazı is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 642 km2, and its population is 26,812 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coast, 220 km (137 mi) west of the city of Mersin.
Arsinoe was a city on the coast of ancient Cilicia between Anemurium and Kelenderis; the site is near the modern city of Bozyazı, Mersin Province, Turkey. Strabo mentions Arsinoe as having a port. In the 19th century, William Martin Leake placed it at or near the ruined modern castle, called Softa Kalesi, just west of Bozyazı, below which is a port, such as Strabo describes at Arsinoe, and a peninsula on the east side of the harbor covered with ruins. This modern site is east of Anemurium, and west of, and near to, Kızil Burnu.
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