7^th International Symposium On Eastern Mediterranean Geology

Yılankale (Kovara, Govara) "Snake Castle" 

(http://www.jsimages.com/pages/snakecastle/snakecastle.html)

 

Yılankale (Snake Castle) is a castle in excellent condition sitting on a crag above Ceyhan. Yilankale was constructed during the Crusades in the 12th Century. Girdling the central and the uppermost portions of a limestone outcrop by the Ceyhan River it overlooks both Cukurova and the historical Silk Road. Since it was built on a mightily protruding rocky foundation and because of its strong walls and three different gates that lead to the castle square and portable ladders on the way from one gate to the other makes it difficult to conquer Yilankale.

Yilankale was abandoned during the reign of the Ramazanoglu Principality in 1352. It was called as "Kovara or Govara" until when Evliya Celebi, a famous 17th Century Turkish traveler renamed it as the "Sahmeran Castle" after the well known Sahmeran (Name of a huge serpent believed to live in the castle) legend in this area. Later it was called Yilankale - The Snake Castle.

 

Tatarli Tumulus is located near Ceyhan town, the neighbouring province of Adana. The archaeologists are trying to unearth the ruins of a city belonged to the Kizzuwatna civilization. Kizzuwatna was an ancient Anatolian kingdom in the second milennium B.C. The works began in 2007 under the leadership of Dr. Serdar Girginer, from Archaeology Department at the Cukurova University.

 

Kastabala (Hieropolis)-Bodrum (Behram) Kale: (http://www.planetware.com/adana)

5km/3mi beyond the village of Yenice on the road from Osmaniye to Karatepe stand the ruins of Hieropolis (Kastabala). Between 52 B.C. and 17 B.C. this Cilician town became the center of an independent principality under Tarcondimotus I. Rome (under Augustus) then restored its influence by making Tarcondimotus II, the new king, Governor of Cilicia in Anazarbus.

 

Karatepe (Azitawata): (http://www.planetware.com/adana)

Along the Osmaniye road beyond the Toprakkale Pass, a side turning branches off on the left to Karatepe (Black Hill), some 28km/17mi north on the right bank of the Ceyhan River. Excavated from 1949 onwards, the site has been extensively restored.

Karatepe was the walled stronghold of an eighth century Hittite ruler called Azitawadda. The two main gates, on the north and south sides, are flanked by massive sphinxes while reliefs on the sills depict various gods, battle and hunting scenes, a ship with oarsmen, etc. There are two parallel inscriptions, one in Hittite hieroglyphic script, the other in Phoenician; these proved a valuable starting point for deciphering the hieroglyphic script. Little survives of the buildings within the town.