| Turkey's
Mediterranean region welcomes tens of thousands of holidaymakers every |
| year,
mostly in Antalya and its environs. But other parts of the same coast
that are |
| less
well known also offer fascinating historical sights and beautiful
scenery. The area |
| around
Mersin east of Antalya is one such destination. The cooler autumn
months are |
| particularly
suitable for sightseeing in this region, and we have chosen Maiden's
Castle |
| and
its environs to tell you about this month. On our way to the castle
we stopped off to |
| visit
Kanlıdivane, 25 kilometres north of the town of Silifke. |
| Kanlıdivane
is a fearsome swallow hole, around which stand Roman and Byzantine |
| buildings.
The most striking of the sights here is undoubtedly the stone figures
who . |
| have
sat unmoving for centuries on the south wall of the pit. They perhaps
represent |
| an
emperor with his empress and family. According to legend prisoners
were thrown |
| into
the pit to be eaten by lions, watched by the local nobility, hence
the name |
| Kanlıdivane
or Place of Bloodshed. |
| |
| Continuing
southwards to the coast you come to a castle standing in the middle
of the |
| sea.
Kız Kalesi, or Maiden's Castle, lies 200 metres offshore on a tiny
islet. The view |
| of
a castle surrounded by water is so striking, that one tends not to
notice the second |
| castle
facing it on dry land. Both castles used to keep watch over Corycus,
one of the |
| most
important ports of the Eastern Mediterranean in the middle ages. Both
castles |
| were
built in the early 12th century during the Byzantine period by Armenian
kings |
| of
the Rubenian dynasty, and once upon a time were linked by a wall which
stretched |
| out
to sea. Maiden's Castle was constructed on the tiny island of Crambusa,
which |
| was
a pirate stronghold. According to the legend which lent the castle
its popular |
| name,
a king living in Mersin to the east of here prayed night and day that
God might |
| grant
him a daughter. Finally his wish came true, and a beautiful daughter
was born to |
| him.
As she grew older, she won everyonful love, not only for her beauty
but for her |
| kindness.
One day a fortune teller came to the city, and the king invited her
to the |
| palace
to learn what the future held in store. When the fortune teller looked
at the |
| princss'sf
hand, she fell silent. The king insisted on hearing what she had seen, |
| and
she told him that his daughter would be bitten by a snake and die.
Her father |
| was
determined to do everything in his power to avert this fate, and so
he built a |
| castle
of white stone on a tiny island 60 kilometres away, and sent his daughter |
| to
live there. One day, however, a snake concealed in a basket of grapes
sent |
| from
the palace bit the princess and she died. Henceforth the castle became |
| known
as Maiden's Castle. |
| |
| The
walls of the castle are 900 metres long. Recently concerts have been
helt here. |
| Now,
Maiden's Castle stands uninhabited, the pirates but a memory and the
city it |
| guarded
so faithfully in ruins.A few kilometres west of the castle is Adamkayalar, |
| where
Roman reliefs can be seen carved on the steep rock wall of the Şeytan
river |
| valley.
These date from the 1st-2nd centuries BC, and mark the site of ancient
graves. |
| Further
along the same road are two more renowned swallow holes, known as
Cennet |
| (Heaven)
and Cehennem (Hell). Both these huge pits were created by the collapse |
| of
the roofs of caverns gouged out of the limestone by underground
rivers. Cennet |
| is
the largest, measuring 200 metres wide and 70 metres deep. A flight
of 452 steps |
| dating
from the Roman period leads down to the bottom. At the 300th step
is the |
| Church
of St Mary, built in the 5th or 6th century at the mouth of a cave.
This is the |
| mouth
of an enormous cave system, and as you penetrate deeper inside, if
you put |
| your
ear to the rock wall you can hear the sound of the rushing underground
river. |
| It
was this river which ancient people called the Styx, and believed
to flow through the |
| underworld
of the dead.A short way from Cennet is Cehennem, a pit which is far
more |
| intimidating
in appearance. Although only 50 metres wide, Cehennem is 120 metres
deep |
| and
has sheer sides impossible to descend. When you see it, you are in
no doubt that |
| Hell
is an appropriate name for this gaping hole in the earth. Mythology
relates that when |
| Zeus
defeated the hundred headed monster Typhon, he imprisoned it here. |
| |
| Beyond
Cennet is another cave known as the Wishing Cave or sometimes as the |
| Asthma
Cave in reference to its therapeutic qualities. An iron staircase
enables visitors |
| to
descend easily into the cave, which is filled with stalagmites and
stalactites. This is |
| believed
to be the original home of Typhon. The constant temperature and humidity
level |
| in
the cave are the reason for the widespread belief that it relieves
asthma.By now you |
| must
be tired and thirsty, and what better place to take a rest than Narlıkuyu,
a small |
| cove
a little to the west of the Maiden's Castle? Narlıkuyu is famous for
its fish |
| restaurants.
Right behind the tables with their snow white tablecloths, you will
notice a |
| tiny
white building. This must be Turkey's smallest museum. Yet it contains
one of the |
| world's
wonders: a mosaic depicting three beautiful women dating from the
4th century |
| BC.
When Poimeinos, Roman commander of the Princes Islands in Istanbul,
built baths |
| here,
he had its floor laid with a mosaic depicting the semi-divine sisters
Aglaia, Thalia |
| and
Euphrosyne. This picture of three beauties who loved enjoying themselves
and |
| giving
pleasure to others arouses the same wonder in us today as it must
have done |
| those
who first saw it two and a half thousand years ago. |
